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THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOENIA.
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/
. THE
NATURAL WEALTH
OF
OALIFOENIA.
ooxpRiBnia
XABLT HItrrORT; OBOORAPHT, TOPOatLLPHT, AXD SOKHIBT ; OLTUATR; AORIOaLTaaK AND COXlOUtOIAL
PRODUCTS; OEOLOOT, ZOOLOOT, JLMD BOTANY; HINKRALOOT, MINIS, AND MININO PRO-
dsais; v ANurAcruRES ; stiamship lines, railroads, and commerci;
IMMIGRATION, POPULATION AND SOCnCTT ; EDUCATIONAL IN-
STITUTIONS AND LITERATURE; TOGETHER WITH
A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EACH COUNTY ;
m TOPOORAPHT, SCENERY, CITIES AND TOWNS, AGRICULTURAL
id>TANTAGE8, MINERAL RESOURCES, AND
YARIKD PRODUCTIONS.
TITUS FEY CRONISE.
SAN FRANCISCO:
H. H. BANCROFT & COMPANY.
1868.
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-3
Entered •oooidliig to Act of Congress, in the yesr ISM*
By TITUS FEY CBOIOSE* •
In the COerk's Office of the District Court of the United Ststei^ forihe
District of Califoxnia.
BmtaoTTPBD AT THs CiufoxlctA Ttpb Tomhrnr, <
Vnm Type mumfkotored by T^x. Fat7£KHSB k 8<nr,
411 Clay Street, Ban KrandrM. * '*:
Puimn> BT Tomra k Baoov, Botnn vrBASTuire fc irnraaH^
5B6Cky8treet £05 Claj flCraet.
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INTRODUCTORY.
Thb Publishers present this work as the most recent, comprehensiYe, and
elaborate treatise upon the histoiy, geography, geology, natural histoiy, cli-
mate^ population, wealth, industry, products, and resources of California.
Unusual pains have been taken to insure its acceptance as a work not alone
of passing interest, but as a standard authority on all the subjects it em-
bracea
There is a strong demand for such an authority, both for the purposes of
local information and reference, and for citation aiid general use abroad,
wbere, for many reasons, much attention has recently been attracted to our
Stata The successful establishment of mail st^am communication witih
Japan and China ; the acquisition of Alaska ; the near completion of the
Pacific railroad ; the remarkable increase of our agricultural products and
exports, enabling California to compete profitably with the foremost wheat
countries in the markets of Europe, are circumstances that have, within the
past twelve months, caused more particular inquiry to be made concerning
the State than ever before. It is no longer looked upon as the isolated
abode of a nomadic and somewhat lawless community, absorbed mainly in
gold seeking, and generally indifferent to the healthy pursuits and noble
concerns of life — ^but as a well-ordered commonwealth, prolific in natural
resources and capacities beyond all its sisters ; favored by a delightful cli-
mate ; advancing in substantial prosperity ; attesting the fertility of its soil
by a wheat crop approximating in value its yield of gold ; and rivaling two
zones in the variety of its other product& It is seen to be the nucleus of a
great empire on the Pacific, already adjoined by States and Territories of
remarkable characteristics, and laying a train of causes that will some day
shift the currents of commercial and monetary exchange.
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VI INTBODUCTORY.
Hence it is desirable to collate in one volume a reliable statement of the
salient facts concerning a region of so much interest ; to make such a com-
pilation as will serve as a magazine for the use of all who have occasion to
write or speak about C^fomia, and which, when drawn upon b}' journalists
abroad for popular articles, wiU disseminate correct information and ideas
where these are most needed and wiU have the most beneficial effect.
While this work has been prepared in a spirit of natural pride, everything
like exaggeration has been guarded against. The material facts are set
forth with plain speech, and often with statistical brevity — the reader being
left, in most cases, to draw his own conclusions. The grand aim has been
to give full and correct information — not to argue or commend.
Those who are most anxious for the rapid peopling and development of
the State should desire no more than the accomplishment of this aim, which
must supply the most effective of all arguments — ^those derived from the
irrefutable logic of facts.
In pursuance of the ideas above set forth, the author has drawn upon
every reliable source of information; has employed the best ability in origi-
nal researches, and has collated a large amount of valuable matter not before
printed. The whole material in the book, which embraces over 700 imperial
octavo pages, has been gathered and written within a year — much of it
within a few weeks of publication ; so that the very latest official and other
data have been availed of to make each department as fresh and complete as
possible. The author has been assisted by a corps of specially qualified
gentlemen, who have established reputations as statisticians, scientists, and
vrriters on subjects of practical and economical interest, and most of whom
have brought to this work the best results of years of experience and obser-
vation.
The division of the work comprises a variety of subjects, some of which
may be mentioned here to afford an idea of the scope of the book : History,
70 pages ; Geography, 20 pages ; Description and Statistics of the Counties,
separately, 237 ; Climate, 21 ; Agriculture^ 43; Geology, 37 ; Zoology, 67 ;
Flora, 27; Mining and Metallurgical Processes, 34; Mines and Mining, 34 ;
Manufactures, 47; San Francisco, 23. Among the miscellaneous topics
treated are the following : Immigration ; Population ; Literature ; Educa-
tional Matters ; Railroads ; Petroleum ; Shipbuilding ; Telegraphs ; City
aud County Finances ; U. S. Branch Mint, etc.
A very brief review of the more striking facts referring to California
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INTEODUCTORT. VU
•will be enough to satisfy those who may wonder at such an expenditure
of literary labor upon our State, that it is entirely justified.
Califomia's seven hundred miles of length, by about two hundred of
width, embraces the same nine degrees of latitude which, on the Atlantic
side of the continent, include the extensive and populous country stretching
from Charleston, S. C, to Plymouth, Masa, a region occupied by portions
of ten or twelve Statea Within these limits, is an area of nearly 160,000
square miles — ^greater than the combined area of New England, New York,
and Pennsylvania, or that of Great Britain and Ireland, with several minor
German States thrown in. The outline of this great State on the map resem-
bles that of an oblong trough, the Coast Range on the westward, or ocean
side, and the Sierra Nevada on the east, with their interlocking extremities
forming the rim, and enclosing a series of level valleys remarkable for their
fertility, once basins of water, salt or fresh, now filled with the washings of
uncounted years, but still subject to occasional partial flooda The mountain
walls themselves are broken into innumerable smaller valleys, level like the
others, those in the Coast Range being the largest and loveliest, and only
slightly elevated above the ocean, those of the Sierra Nevada, and especially
at the sources of its streams, and between its crest of double summits,
attaining an elevation of from 3,000 to 7,000 feet, and enclosing charming
lakea
Although this State reaches to the latitude of Plymouth bay on the
north, the climate, for its whole length, is as mild as that of the regions
near the tropics ; half the months are rainless ; snow and ice are almost
strangers, except in the high altitudes ; there are fully 200 cloudless days,
every year ; roses bloom in the open air of the valleys through all seasons ;
the grape grows at an altitude of 3,000 feet with Mediterranean luxuriance ;
the orange, the fig, and the olive flourish as in their native climes; yet,
there is enough variety of climate and soil to include all the products of
the northern temperate zone, with those of a semi-tropical character. The
great valleys of the interior yield an average of 20 to 35 bushels of wheat
per acre ; crops of 60 bushels are not uncommon, while as high as 80 bushels
have been known on virgin soil under the most favorable circimistancea
The farmer loses less time here than in any other portion of the United
States, or in any country of Europe.
It is remarkable that with these genial characteristics blends some of
the grandest mountain scenery in the world. The Sierra Nevada contains
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Viii INTRODUCTOBY.
the highest peaks known in North America. In its northern portion stands
Mount Shasta, 14,440 feet high, and towering seyen thousand feet above all
surrounding peaka In its southern portion, however, where the main chain
attains its greatest general height. Mount Whitney rises about 15,000 feet,
and is surrounded by a close congregation of 100 peaks, which are all above
13,000 feet, while the embracing region, for 300 square nules, has an eleva-
tion of 8,000 feei Beside these figures the Alps become inferior. The
Yosemite gorge has a world-wide celebrity for its granite walls, which rise
perpendicularly as high as 4,400 feet, and over which tumble river currents
that break in foam on the blue air, or sway in the breeze like veils of laca
In this splendid range occur those gold deposits, the most extensive ever
known, which have yielded in twenty years $850,000,000, and are still yield-
ing over 37 per cent of the whole annual gold product of the world, or 10
per cent more than Australia. In this range, or its offshoots, are also found
mines of silver, copper, iron and coal, vdth smaller quantities of numerous
other metals and minerala Here are also the finest coniferous forests of
America, including several groves of the largest and oldest trees in the
world. More than all this, a large portion of the Sierra Nevada, rugged as
it might seem to be from this description, is well adapted to cultivation and
settlement ; its lower ridges, its depressions and foot-hills, having a produc-
tive soil, and being accessible by good wagon roads, in some places by rail-
roads already built or projected, while the mining communities furnish
good marketa Agriculture in the mountain districts is becoming a striking
feature of the industry of the State, and it is believed that for grape and
fruit raising the high lands will hereafter be generally preferred. Many of
these remarks are also true of the Coast Range, where mountains 3,000 feet
high are often clothed to their summits with a thick growth of vrild oats,
which furnishes excellent pasture and hay ; where the valleys are rich and
picturesque, and where quicksilver, salt, sulphur, borax, and splendid red-
wood timber are found in abundance.
When such facts as the foregoing are recalled, it would seem strange that
California hardly increased its population for many years, if we did not
reflect how remote and isolated it has been from the great hives of the
East, how little has been known abroad about its best qualities, and how
fatal were the early vagabond mining methods and habits to permanent
prosperity. Yet, for a community never exceeding from 400,000 to 500,000,
all told, scattered over an area large enough to support 30,000,000, and
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INTRODUCTOBT. IX
begmning twenty years ago with but a handful of Caucasians, Calif omia has
accomplished a great deal If its gold product has fallen from $65,000,000
per annum to $25,000,000, its agricxdtural products have increased to an
amount equal to half the largest gold yield ever known. The wheat crop
alone, for 1867, was worth nearly as much as the gold, and the surplus of this
staple freighted 223 ships, and reached a value of $13,000,000; while the total
exports of home products, including about fifty different articles for which
the State was formerly dependent on other lands, was about $17,000,000.
The vintage of 1867 exceeded 3,500,000 gallons of wine and 400,000 gal-
lons of brandy, the number of vines now growing in the State being about
25,000,000. The wool clip was 9,500,000 pounds, showing a gain of more
than thirty per cent over 1866. Silk, tobacco, hops, flax and cotton may now
be ranked among the minor products that promise to be hereafter sources of
profit A silk factory and a sugar-beet factory are two of the new indus-
tries being established. The manufactures of the State are already esti-
mated at $30,000,000 per annum. The best mining machineiy in the Union
is made hera The assessed value of real and personal property increased
in 1867 about $21,000,000, running up the total taxable values of the State
to some $221,000,000, and showing a gain of twenty per cent in two years,
the most prosperous years ever experienced in the State. It may be said
that the genuine prosperity of California is only just begun. So long as a
greater part of its population was engaged in surface mining there was little
substantial gain, either materially or morally. The transition period to more
regular and diversified industry was one of trial and discouragement; but it
is nearly over, and on every hand may be seen the signs of improvement,
in commerce, manufactures, agriculture and society. Mining itself is becom-
ing a fixed pursuit, regulated by science, skill, and capital One third of
our gold product is now obtained from quartz veins worked by machineiy,
and this proportion is steadily increasing. Bailroads are rapidly multiply-
ing in the Stata Within twelve months San Francisco will be connected by
rail with all the principal towns of the interior, at distances from 50 to 200
miles, north, south or east, and with the Qreat Basin of Nevada and Utah,
by the Pacific railroad. Telegraph lines ramify from the metropolis to all
parts of the interior, connecting with British Columbia and every State in
the Union.
The running of two lines of steamships to Panama, and others to Mexico,
British Columbia, Alaska, the Sandwich Islands, Japan and China, have
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X INTRODUCTORY.
greatly increased our commeroe and quickened immigration. A sound me-
tallic banking system is in secure operation.
The State funds for educational purposes now aggregate nearly
$1,000,000, and the interest upon this, with the aid of school taxes, supports
an admirable system of free instruction. The means and the measures are
ready for establishing a State University on a broad, and permanent basia
The penal and benevolent institutions maintained by the State have been
improved considerably, the latter, especially, being quite creditable, and
including provision for the insane, the deaf and dumb and blind, the
orphaned, and the youthful wrecks of society. Besides these, there are
numerous and varied local establishments in San Francisco, which minister
to the miseries and wants of the entire State with impartial charity.
The future of California is very bright, and those who have been faithful
to her through nineteen or twenty years of remarkable vicissitudes and hard-
ships, may well rejoice in the prospect Tet, there are some evils and dis-
advantages which need to be frankly considered. Habits of lavish expen-
diture, lack of repose in social manners, recklessness in business, luidue
haste to be rich, want of restraint over the young, too great indifference to
the solid essentials of character in public and private, a hard materialism ;
these are traits which Califomians, with all their spasmodic, though hearty
generosity, exhibit too frequently. This criticism is less applicable to all
the larger centers of population, however, than it would have been a few
years ago. The growth of the family influence and of the sentiment of
attachment to the State, has been quite rapid. Society is crystallizing into
perfect forms ; homes have multiplied ; domestic pleasures and moral
restraints are generally more powerful than frontier vices, and the most
intelligent travelers concede that for pleasantness of home surroundings,
and regard for all the ordinary sanctities of law and religion, society in the
populous centers of Calif omia compares favorably with that at the East,
while it has undoubtedly escaped the worst effects of protracted war and
financial disturbance. Such asperities as remain here and there will be
toned down by the lapse of time, the concentration of a more stable popu-
lation in the mining districts, the homogeneousness that will come with a
larger native infusion ; but it is worth while to try and subdue them earlier,
and to cultivate even more assiduously than we do the qxiiet domestic traits
that make the beauty and the sweetness of Home.
A difficulty of another kind is found in the uncertain tenure of real estate,
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INTBODUCTOBT. XI
and the tendency to retain land in large tracts. This, however, is less appa-
rent than it was a few years ago. Nearly all the Spanish titles have been
finally adjudicated, and fair progress is making in settling the many vexa-
tious disputes as to the large tracts of land granted by the United States
Government, which the State authorities too hastily and carelessly put
into market Large bodies of land are coming into possession of railroad
companies ; but imder the regulations adopted by Congress, these cannot be
withheld from occupation, even if it were not to the interest of the grantees
to sell them. Many holders of Spanish grants, which embrace some of the
most extensive and fertile districts, could greatly benefit the State, and
themselves, by dividing these estates into small farms and selling them to
actual settlers at a fair price. It will be a grand day for California when
the -^rd ** ranch," like the idea and system it represents, has only a histor-
ical meaning, and when small farms, well tilled, dot the lovely plains now
abandoned to herds of cattle. The floods and droughts of 1862, '63 and
'64, compelled many ranch owners to adopt the sensible policy above recom-
mended ; and if all would do so to the extent of offering half or two thirds
of their property in alternate lots, they would grow wealthy on the remain-
der, and help to enrich the State.
In conclusion, the publishers of the Natural Wealth of California sub-
mit it to the public with the earnest wish that its chief aim, which is to
help California in the direction of a substantial and healthy progress, may
be fully realized.
The author desires to make especial acknowledgment to J. G. Cooper,
M. D., of the State Geological Survey; to Henry Gibbons, M. D. ; and to
Mr. J. S. Silver, for valuable assistance rendered by them in the several
departments of Zoology, Climate, and Agriculture
Prof. B. Silliman, Dr. Louis Lanszweert, Messrs. Henry DeGroot, Mon-
roe Thompson, T. A. Blake, W. A. Goodyear, F. Bret EEarte, and Wm. Henry
Knight, have also aided in the preparation of material for this volume, and
the author's thanks are due to these gentlemen for the efficient manner in
which their duties have been performed.
Bah Feakgibco, March 31» 1868.
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CONTENTS.
OHAPTEB I. I
BABLX HI8T0BT.
Izktrochictioii — Origin of the Name— By Whom DiaooTered— ORie Changes in its Bonndaiies
—The Missions— Their Beginning and End— The Aborigines of California— The Early
Settlers — Commerce of CaUfbrnia while nndar Spanish and Mexican Bnle— The Aoqm-
sttlon of Califoniifr by the United States. . Page 1
OHAPTEB II.
OSOOBAPHT AND TOPOO]
OntHne of Cteography— ThoAl^Kirs of California— San Pranoisco Bay— Tidal InflnonooB
San Diego Harbor— San Pedro Bay— The Scmta Barbara Channel— San Lnis Obispo
Bay— Monterey Bay — Santa Croz Harbor— Half Moon Bay — ^Drake's Bay — Tomales
Bay— ^Bodega Bay — ^Humboldt Bay — ^Trinidad Bay — Crescent City Hazbor— Improve-
ments to be Made— Islands on the Coast 71
OHAPTEB III.
THB OOUKTIKS OT OAIjIFOBNIA.
Soathem, Coast Northern, Moontain and Valley Conntie& Sonthem Counties: San Diego
* — San Bernardino— Los Angeles— Santa Barbara— San Lnis Obispo — ^Kem. Qpast Coim-
ties: Monterey — Santa Cruz — Santa Clara — San Mateo — San Francisco— Alameda —
Contra Costa — ^Marin — Sonoma — ^Napa — ^Lake — ^Mendocino. Northern Counties: Hum-
boldt—Trinity^-Klamath — ^Del Norte— Siskiyou — Shasta— Lassen. Mountain Counties :
Plumas — Sierra — Nevada — Placer— El Dorado— Amador— Alpine— Cala2fiiBa=Xiiolr
umne — ^Mariposa — ^Mono — Inyo. Valley Counties: Tehama— Butte — Colusa^Sutter —
Yuba— Yolo— Solano— Sacramento— San Joaquin — Stanislaus — Merced— Fresno— Tu-
laia 92
OHAPTEB IV.
OIjIHATB.
Qgagea] Bflmgife— Temperature— Extremes of Heat and Cold— ^Winds— The Sea Breeze-—
Northers — Southeasters — ^Bains — Storms — Cloud and Mist — Snow and Hail— Thunder
and Lightning— Belations of Climate to Agrioultuxe and other Pursuits— Health, Do-
mestic Economy, etc 890
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XIV CONTENTS.
OHAPTEB V.
AGBICUIiTUBB.
AoBicuimTBB. Preliminary Observations. The Cereals : "Wheat, Barley, Oats, Bice, etc.
Grasses: Alfalfa, Clover, etc. Cotton— Flax—The Sugar Beet— Melon Sugar— Hops-
Tobacco— Mustard Seed— The Amole, or Soap Plant— The Tea Plant. Fruits and Nuts:
Apples — Pears' — Peaches — Plums — Cherries— Oranges — Lemons— Limes — Bananas —
Olives— Almonds— Chestnuts, etc. Berries: Strawberries -Raspberries — Blackberries.
Dried Fruits : Raisins— Currants — Prunes — Figs, etc. Pickles, Preserved Fruits and
Vegetables : Orange Marmalade— Quince Jelly — Onions, etc. Potatoes— Large Growths.
Dairy Products : Butter— Cheese. Cattle and Horses— Sheep and Wool— Hogs— Bees
and Honey— Insects. Wood Planting : Transplanting Trees— The Sirocco. Agricul-
tural Implements : Steam Ploughs— The California Land Dresser. Irrigation — Under
Draining — ^Famine Years — Late Rains— The Farmer's Troubles in California — Hints
to Emigrants— Contrasts— Advantages— The Chinese in California — Farm Labor — Har-
mony among Producers. Vdjicultubb. Grapes— Wine — Brandy — ^Wine Merchants, etc.
Silk Cxjutube, Mulbeziy Trees — Cocoons — ^Diseases of Silk Woxms, etc. Page 352
OHAPTEB VI.
OBOIiOaY.
General Outlines of Topography— Geology of Coast Ranges—Monte Diablo Range— Coal
Beds— Peninsula of San Francisco — ^North of San Francisco Bay— South of Monterey
Bay— Southern End of Tulare Valley— Geology of the Sierra Nevada— The Great Auri-
ferous Belt — Southern portion of the Gold Field— Mariposa County— The Fremont Grant
—Mining— Tuolumne County— Table Mountains— Fossil Remains— Calaveras County-
Union Copper Mine— Gold Mining— Amador County— El Dorado County— Placer County
Kevada County— Sierra County— Plumas County 396
OHAPTEB VIL
4^ ZOOLOGY.
General Plan. fAhmtkUk : Bears— Raccoon— Skunks-— Gitttton-Kshei^Marten —Weasel
Otter— Cougar — Jaguar— Ocelotn-Wild Cats — Wolf —Coyote— Foxes— Sea Lions and
Seals— Sea Elephant— Shrews— Bats— Beaver-^ffiimots— Squirrels— Rats— Gophers —
Porcupine — Hares —Elk— Deer— Antelope— Bighorn— Whales and Porpoises. Bibds:
Pavsano— Cuckoo— Woodpeckers— llagles—il^FEs— Owls— Vultures— Crows— Magpies
Jays— Kingfishers— Flycatchers— Nigpthawks— Humming Birds —Swallows— Waxwings
Thrushes— Mocking Birds-Grosbeaks— Linnets— Goldfinches— Sparrows — Pigeons-
Doves^-Cranes-Herons-Ibis— Plover— Snipe— Curiews— Quail— Swans— Geese^-Brant
Ducks —Pelicans — Cormorants— Albatross —Fulmars —Petrels— Cfuils— Loons— Grebes
— Bea Parrot — Sea Pigeon— Murre. Reptiles : Tortoise— Turtles— Lizards— Iguana-
Homed Toads— Glass Snake— Rattlesnakes— Harmless Snakes— Frogs» etc., — Salaman-
ders—Four-legged Fish. FiBHBS : Perch— Kingfish— Bass— Moonfish— Goldfish— Vivi-
parous Fish- Redfish — Eelpfish — Mackerel^Bonito — Albicore —Barracouta— Flying
Fish— Panther Fish—Sticklebacks- Rock-Cod— Sculpin— Wolf-Eel~Gobies— Toad Fish
—Lump Fish-Flat Fish— Halibut— Turbot— Sole— Cod— Whiting— Codling— Tom-Cod
— Snake Fish— Salmon Trout— White Fish — Smelts— Killies— Herring— Anchovies-
Chubs— Suckers — Conger-Eel— Balloon Fish — Sea Horse— Pipe Fish — Sturgeons— Rays
—Sharks— Torpedo— Angel Fish — Stingrays — Lampreys— Wonh Fish. Mollusca :
Oysters— Clama— Date Fisk— Mussels. Osuixagba. : Cxabs— Lobster— Shrimps— Craw-
fish. 434
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OONTENra XV
CHAPTER VIII.
^ FIjOBA.
General Bemarkg— Seqnoia— The Mammoth or Big Trees— Bedwoodr—Oalifomia Pines —
Oaks — Cedars — ^Firs — California Nutmeg— California Yew Tree — Laurel— Manzanita —
Madrona — Horse Chestnut, or Buckeye — Shruba and Plants — ^Poison Oak — ^Alder — Bar-
berry— Canchalagua — Pitcher Plant— Yerba Buena^-Flarworta— Hea-bane— Soap Plant
Grasses— Catalogue of Native Trees of California. Page 502
OHAPTEB IX.
MZKINa AND METAIiLUBOIGAIi PBOGB88BS.
Gold— Placer Mining— The Shallow Placers — Biver Mining — ^The Deep Placers— Tunnel
Mining— Hydraulic Mining — Blue Gravel — The Great Blue Lead— White Cement —
Quartz, or Vein Mining — Mining Operations — Milling Machinery and Processes— The
Grass Valley System of Amalgamation — Amalgamation in Battery — The Mariposa
Process — Concentration — ^Plattner's Chloiination Process. • • • . 529
OHAPTEB X.
MINES AND KlNINOk
Bapid Exploration of the Placers— Overestimate of Earnings— Chances Still Good— Im-
proved Conditions — ^Northwestem Coxmties — Character of Mines — Gold Beaches, etc- -
The npntTftl Dif^fits — ^Various Branches of Placer Mining — Quartz Mining— Number
of Locations — ^Early Efforts — Present Besults — Mining at Grass Valley — A Bepresenta-
tive Mine — ^BuUe, Sierra, and Plumas Counties — Gold Bearing Slates and Gossans-
Auriferous Cement and Gravel Beds — Openings for Enterprise, Labor, and Capital —
Silver — ^Lron — Quicksilver— The New Almaden Mine — ^Mineralogy. ... 562
OHAPTEB XI.
HAN17FACTUBES.
Introductory Benuorks. Woolen Mills : The Pioneer Mills— Ifission Mills— Pacific MUls—
Marysville Mills. Cotton Manufactures — Flouring Mills — Sugar Befineries. Iron Works:
The Pacific Boiling Mills — ^Union Iron Works— Miners* Foimdry, etc. — ^BoUer Works,
Brass Foundries — Saw Mills and Lumber— Wire and Bope Works — The Pacific Cordage
Factory — ^Tanneries — Powder Works — ^Fuse Factory — ^Paper MUls — Glass Works — ^Man-
ufacture of Salt — Soap Factories — Candle Factories — Glue Factory — Chemical and Acid
Factories — ^Matches — Oil Works — ^Bice Mills — ^Lime and Cement — Lead Works — Marble
Works and Quarries — Potteries — ^Boots and Shoes — Saddlery and Harness — ^Wagons,
Carriages, Cars, Agricultural Implements, etc. — ^Furniture — ^Matting— Pianos, Organs,
Billiard Tables — Breweries and Distilleries — ^Brooms, and Broom Com — ^Wood and Wil-
low Ware— California Type Foundry — Cigar Manufactories— Manufacture of Clothing;
Shirts, eto. — ^Furs— Meat Packing and Curing— Dried and Preserved Fruits and Vege-
tables, etc. — Miscellaneous Manufactures— Works Projected or in Progress. • 596
OHAPTEB XII.
cuty and countt op ban fbanoiboo.
Sitoatlon, Topography, etc. — ^Early Settlement and Subsequent Progress — Street Grades,
Public Grounds, etc. — Improvement of Water Front — Style and Peculiarities of Build-
ings— ^Fear of Earthquakes, and its Efiects — Churches, and Places of Public Worship—
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XTl CONTENTS.
Theatres, and other Places of Amnsement — Scientific, Social, Literary, and Eleemosy.
nary Institations — ^Number of Inhabitants — ^Diverdty of Races, Ideas and CuFtoms —
Juvenile Population — ^Manufacturing Status, etc. — Educational System— Public School*,
Colleges, Seminaries and Private Institutions of Learning — ^Value of City Property —
Mtmidpal Income, Debt and Expenditures — Buildings, Improvements, etc. — Police and
Fire Departments — Cemeteries, Public Gardens, Homestead Associations — City Rail-
roads— Gas Works and Water Works — ^Markets — Banking Institutions and Insurance
Companies— United States Branch Mint — ^Advantages of Position— Foreign Commerce
and Domestic Trade— Bullion Products— Passenger Arrivals, etc. . . Page 644
CHAPTER XIII.
IdBCELIiANEOUS SUBJECTS.
Bailroads — Central Padfio Railroad- Western Pacific Railroad — San Jos^ Railroad— Sacra-
mento Valley Railroad — Placerville and Sacramento Valley Railroad — California Cen-
tral Railroad — ^Yuba Railroad — ^Northern California Railroad — Various Short Railroads
— ^Railroads Recently Commenced — Railroads Projected — Steamship Lines — Ship Build-
ing—Telegraphs— State and County Finances — Gold Product — ^Fisheries — Immigration
— ^Population — ^Voters — Races, etc — Chinese in California — Libraries — Literature,
Journalism, etc. — ^list of CalifOTnia Publications 668
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THM
NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORMA.
CHAPTER L
EAELT mSTORT.
I&trodactioii — Origin of the Name— By Whom Disoorered— The Ohtnges in its BotmdarieB
— ^The Missions— their Beginning and End— The Aborigines of California— The Early
Settlers — Commerce of California while nnder Spanish and Mexican Bole — ^The Acqni«
sition of California by the United States.
This book, being more particularly intended as an exhibit of the
natural wealth of the State of California^ makes no pretensions to
being a history of the Pacific Coast ; but the two subjects are so inti-
mately blended, that it is not possible to write about one without
referring to the other. The limits of the portion of the work pro-
posed to be devoted to the historical branch of the subject, compel us
to confine ourselves, as much as possible, to facts and events connected
with that portion of the coast embraced within the boundaries of this
State — a somewhat difficult task, as, until a comparatively recent
period, the whole country, from the boundaries of South America, to
the late Bussian possessions on the north, and from the Ocean to the
Bocky Mountains^ was included in California.
ORIGIN OP THE NAMR
There are few countries, the origin of the name of which is involved
in as much mystery as that of California. A compound of Greek and
Latin, it is not positively known by whom or when compounded ; nor
the reason why, although many profound scholars in Europe and in the
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2 THE NATUBAL T7EALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
United States have endeavored, daring the past century, to trace its
origin. It is first met with in a once popular, but now almost for-
gotten romance, entitled ''The Sergas of Esplandian, the son of
Amadis, of Gaul," published at Seville, (Spain), in 1510, in which it
occurs three times. In one passage, thus:
'' Elnow that on the right hand of the Indies there is an island called
California^ very near to the Terrestrial Paradise, which was peopled by
black women, without any men among them, because they were accus-
tomed to live after the manner of the Amazons. They were of strong
and hardened bodies, of ardent courage, and of great force. The
island was the strongest in the world, from its steep rocks and great
clifEs. Their arms were all of gold, and so were the caparisons of the
wild beasts they rode."
Another passage reads:
**In the island called California are many griffins, on account of the
great savageness of the country and the immense quantity of wild game
to be found there."
This romance was very popular in Europe, passed through several
editions during the twenty-five years immediately preceding the dis-
covery of this country, and it is quite possible that Hernando Grixalva
— one of Cortez' officers to whom the honor of making that discovery
belongs — or some of his companions, may have read it, and, finding
what they supposed to be an island while sailing ** towards the Terres-
trial Paradise," along the coast of Mexico, which is '*on the right
hand of the Indies," they called it California — ^not because it answered
to the description in the romance, but to secure an additional interest
in the discovery, by givmg it a name that possessed the attraction
created by that popular work. They must have drawn on their imagi-
nation immensely, however, when adapting such a description to that
portion of the coast first discovered, which is near the site of the
present port of La Paz, in Lower California.
There is a tradition among the native Califomians, that, in an expe-
dition of the Spaniards against the Indians, in 1829, they found in
the country between Tomales Bay and Cape Mendocino, a tribe in which
the squaws had as much to say, and to do with the afiairs of peace
and war, as the men. These women are stated to have been stout
and weU made, and are remembered, in the old traditions, as ''Los
Amazones."
Where the author of the romance obtained the name, has not been
ascertained. It is probable that he took the idea of the location of
the " Terrestrial Paradise" from a letter, written by Columbus to Fer-
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EABLT mSTOBT. 3
dinand and Isabella^ many years previotisly, when the great navigator
was abont to make a voyage in the same direction as that followed by
Orixalva, in which he informed his sovereigns that ^'he shall be sailing
towards the Terrestrial Paradise."
It may be stated, in expldbation, that long after tiie discovery made
by Grixalva^ California was considered an island. The peninsula was
subsequently called the Island of Santa Cruz, and, more than a cen-
tury afterwards, it was renamed the ^'Islas Carolinas," in honor of
Charles 11 of Spain.
Some authorities insist that the name is derived from ccdidusfomnM,
two Latin words signifying **hot oven," giving as a reason for such ein
hypothesis, that it is a custom of immemorial antiquity, among the
aborigines of this section of the coast, to use ^'hot ovens" called
temescaly as a remedy for most of the diseases to which they are sub-
ject. Every tribe had one or more of these "hot ovens" near their
villages. These "sweat houses" were quite familiar to the mission-
aries and early settlers, and may be found in many parts of the State
at the present time. It is very probable that the earliest explorers
may have seen some of them; and, because the natives used "hot
ovens" to heal their bodies, may have called the country "a land of
hot ovens, or ccdidus fomus.
Clavigero, who wrote a history of California many years ago, quotes
the opinion of D. Guiseppo Compoi, a learned Jesuit, on this subject,
who states that the name is derived from the Spanish word cola, which
means "a little cove of the sea>" and the Latin word fornix, "the
vault, or concave roof of a building" — giving, as a reason for this extra-
ordinary interpretation, that within Cape St. Lucas (near where Grixalva
is supposed to have landed) there is "a little cove of the sea," near
which there was a rock so worn by the waves, that its upper part was
hollow, like "a vaulted roof," and from tiiese circumstances its dis-
coverers called the place ccda fomixy which has since been softened
down to California, and applied to the whole country.
A learned Greek scholar suggests that the name may have been
compounded from the Greek words kala^horarneay signifying a beau-
tiful young woman, or n^w country. Another Greek scholar suggests
that it may be derived from kalorphomeia, signifying beautiful adultery.
The application of such an interpretation is not very clear, though
Powers' statue of California represents a beautiful, nude female,
holding a bundle of thorns behind her, which is claimed to be an
embodiment of this interpretation ; but it may be quite as appropriate
to explain such a figure by the seductive beauiy of the country, and
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4 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
the disappointments so many of its earlier visitors encountered. It is
quite clear that the Spanish explorers^ who are credited with giving
the name, had no acquaintance with the seductions that lured so many
here in after years, because that portion of the country they applied
this name to, is the most barren and uninviting on the coast.
Yenegas, the most learned of all the early historians of the coasts
in his ** Natural and Civil History of California^" published in 1758,
states that the name was first used by Bemal Diaz, an officer who had
served under Cortez^ during the conquest of Mexico, and applied by
him to a bay which he discovered during one of the earliest voyages.
This learned historian objects to the proposition that the name is
derived from ccUida fomaoc, alleged to have been given to it by the
early navigators, on the very probable ground that these persons did
not possess sufficient knowledge of the Latin to make such a com-
binatiotL
^ There is still another alleged origin for the name, mentioned by
Captain Beechey, in his account of his voyage to this coast in 1826,
wherein he relates a conversation on this subject, between himself and
Father Felipe Arroyo, who was at that time in charge of the Mission
of San Juan Bautista. The worthy father is stated to have expressed
his belief that the name originated from cdo/onia, the Spanish word
for rosin ; giving his reason for such belief — that ihe great number of
resinous trees the discoverers of the countiy saw, when they landed,
impelled them to exclaim : ccHofonia! — or rosin.
This story is so absurd, as to be almost unworthy of notice ; but
having been quoted by a gentleman who has obtained some reputation
as an authority on California archsBology, it deserves consideration.
The fact that the portion of the peninsula where these discoverers
landed, and to which it is admitted they gave the name, is one of the
most barren, treeless sections of the coast, demolishes ^e whole story.
The records of the Jesuit Missions, on the peninsula, say the
"extreme barrenness of the soil prevented the growth of trees of any
magnitude." Father Ugarte, who built the first vessel constructed in
California — The Triumph of the Cross — ^in 1772, had to haul the timber
used in its construction "full thirty leagues from the river Mulege,
where she was built," because there was none growing any nearer.
According to these records, the first discoverers had but little cause
to exclaim "colofonia 1"
It may be mentioned as a curious fact, although one not having
any particular reference to this subject, that in Bavaria^ and other
portions of the south of Germany, rosin is called " Elalif omea^ " the
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EABLT mSTOBT. 6
word being pronounced precisely as we pronounce California. The
origin of the Qerman word it is out of our province to discuss. It is
merely mentioned as a curious fact.
Webster thinks that the root of the name is probably the Spanish
CdHfOy from the Arabic Khalifah^ successor or to succeed, the Caliphs
being the acknowledged successors of Mahommed.
The explanation of the origin of the natives of the country, undei'
the head of aborigines, may throw some light on this subject.
Numerous other attempts have been made by writers in Mexico,
the United States, and Europe, to explain the origin of this name; but
the above are the best and most reasonable of such efforts.
BY WHOM DISCOVEBED, AND WHEN.
The territory which at present comprises the great State of Cali-
fornia, was first discovered, and partially described, in the year 1542,
by Juan Bodriguez Cabrillo^ a Portuguese by birth, but at the time
serving as pilot, or navigator, in the Spanish service. He also dis-
covered and named the Farralones islands. Equipped for a voyage
of discovery along the then unknown shores of the Pacific, under the
auspices of Mendoza, the Viceroy of Mexico, Cabrillo sailed from the
port of Navidad, Mexico, on the 27th of June, 1542. Keeping within
sight of the shore, the greater portion of the distance, he reached as
far as latitude 40^ 30^, and longitude 124^ 35^, when he encountered
the great western headland, which he called Cape Mendoza, in honor
of his friend and patron, the viceroy — ^but now called Cape Mendocino.
This ^t is almost all that remains on record to prove that Cabrillo
was the discoverer of the country. He appears to have returned from
the voyage on the 14th of the following April, without making any
further discoveries.
It was supposed, for many years, that Sir Francis Drake, the
famous English navigator, was the discoverer of California^ as well as
of the Bay of San Francisco. But, before the light of history, he is
stripped of both honors, on the clearest possible testimony. Sir
Francis, it is known, reached the Pacific Ocean through the straits of
Magellan, on board the Oolden Hind, in 1558, thirty-six years after
Cabrillo had named Cape Mendocino. He was not aware of this fact ;
but» thinking he had discovered a new country, took possession of it
for **Good Queen Bess," as was the custom in those days. It is
clearly settled, that the place where he landed is near Point de los
Beyes, latitude 37^ 59' 5'\ Sir Francis marked it on his chart as in
latitude 38^. The locality will probably be ever known hereafter as
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6 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNLL
Drake's Bay. The most oonclusive argument that oonld be adyanced,
to prove that he did not discover the Bay of San Francisco, is found in
the name he gave the country — ^New Albion. There is nothii^ about
the entrance of this bay, to call up images of the *' white cliflb of old
England," so dear to the hearts of the mariners of that country. Its
beetling rocks, which must have been additionally dark and dreary at
the season of the year when the great navigator saw them — ^neither
green with the verdure of spring, nor russet by the summer's heat;
while, near Point de los Beyes, there is sufficient whiteness about the
clifEs which skirt the shore to attract attention, and ''as it is out of
the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh," the ''bold Briton,'*
longing for home, may have pictured to his "mind's eye " some resem-
blance to "Old Albion." Besides, Drake lay thirty-six days at anchor,
which it would have been impossible for so experienced a sailor to
have done, had it been in our glorious bay, without being impressed
with its great importance as a harbor, on a coast so destitute of such
advantages as this ; but he makes no allusion to any feature traceable
in our bay. He never had the honor of seeing it.
In 1602, General Sebastian Yiscayno, under orders from Philip TTT-
of Spain, made an exploration of the coast of Upper California, in the
course of which he discovered the harbors of San Di^o, on the 10th
of November. After remaining a few days, he proceeded to the north,
and, on December 16th, discovered the bay of Monterey, which he
named in honor of Ghtspar de Zunniga^ Count de Monte Bey, the then
Viceroy of Mexico. It was at first called Port of Pines. Yiscayno
remained eighteen days at Monterey, and was much impressed with
the beauiy of its surroundings. He also discovered the islands which
form the Santa Barbara ChanneL
Forbes, in his "History of Calif omia^" states that Yiscayno, on this
voyage, discovered the bay of San Francisco — a statement which is
not supported by any other authoriiy. It is possible that Forbes may
have misinterpreted a passage from the diary of the voyage, which
states that "in twelve days after leaving Monterey, a favorable wind
carried the ship past the port of San Francisco, but she afterwards put
back into the port of Francisco." As the diary further states that
"she anchored, January 7th, 1603, behind a point of land called
Punta de los Beyes, (which was named by Yiscayno), where there was a
wreck." There is no room to doubt that it was not inside the bay of
San Francisco, which there is no proof that Yiscayno ever saw. I»
1595, Sebastian Cermenon, while on a voyage from Manilla to Aca-
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EABLT HI8T0E7. 7
pnico, was wrecked near Pnnta de loa Beyes. This was the wreck
alluded to.
There is a work extant^ writt^i by Cabrera Bueno and published in
Spain, in 1734 which contains instructions to navigators for reaching
the '^Punta los Beyes^ and entering the port of San Francisco/' which
some authors consider the present bay ; but the wreck of Cermenon's
Tessel near that pointy and Yiscayno's putting into that port, is toler-
able evidence that it was not the harbor of San Francisco which is
here alluded to. There was also a map published in Europe, in 1545,
three years after Gabrillo's voyage, in which a San Francisco bay is
named, as well as the Farralones, which some authors consider a proof
that it was ''the Bay." As it was Cabrillo who named those islands^
after Farralo, his pilot, and it is known that he did not enter ''the
Bay," it is clear that there must have been another San Francisco
harbor, which is not that known by that name at present.
It may be stated, as a proof that there was another port of San
Francisco, besides the present bay, that, in 1812, Baranof, chief agent
of the Bussian-Amerioan Company, asked permission from the Gov-
ernor of California^ to erect a few houses and leave a few men at
Bod^a Bay, a "little north of the port of San Francisco." San Fran-
cisco Bay had been visited before that time, by the Bussians, and was
known to be nearly sixty miles south-east from Bod^a> which place is
only "a little north" of Funta de los Beyes, where the Spanish port of
San Francisco is located, and where Yiscayno anchored.
As further proof that there was such a harbor, we refer to the fact
that Governor Portak, when his party first discovered the great bay,
called it San Francisco, under the impression that it was the harbor of
that name, north of Punta de los Beyes, which had long been known
to the Spanish navigators on the coast, as is proven by the above
extracts.
From 1610 to 1660, upwards of twenty attempts were made to
explore and take possession of the country, under a vague, irresistible
impression that it contained not alone large deposits of gold, silver,
and pearls, but diamonds and other precious stones.
But little, however, is known of the country from the date of Yiscay-
no's discoveries, tiU 1767, or one hundred and sixty-four years after-
wards ; when the Jesuit missionaries, being expelled from Lower Cal-
ifornia by ordcft of Charles HE of Spain, their missions and property
were granted to the Fathers of the Order of Si Francis. These enthu-
siastic propagandists, acting under instructions from the Marquis de
Croix, then Yiceroy of Mexico, made arrangements for extending their
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8 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
labors into the tipper territory. To carry this object into e£Eect, Father
Jtinipero Serra, a very energetic and zealous member of the order, was,
in 1768, appointed President of all the Missions to be e$tablished in
Upper California. This holy man, who was the real founder of civiliza-
tion in the territory now owned by the State, in company with sixteen
monks from the convent of San Fernando, in the City of Mexico, pro-
ceeded to carry out the objects of the Viceroy, which were to establish
missions at Monterey, San Di^o, and San Buenaventura. Expeditions
were at once arranged to take possession of the country, both by sea and
land; the ships to be used to carryall the heavy materials and supplies,
and the land party to drive the flocks and herds. The first vessel, the
San CarloSy in command of Don Vicente Vilal, left Cape St. Lucas
(Lower Califomia) on the 9th of January, 1769, bound for San Diego,
and was followed by the San Antonio, commanded by Don Juan Perez^
on the 15th of January. A third vessel, the San Joae, was dispatched
from Loretto, on the 16th df June.
The sufferings of the '' pioneers" on board these vessels afford a
striking contrast to the securiiy, comfort and i^ipidity enjoyed by the
voyagers to and from Califomia in the present day. The San Carlos
arrived at San Diego on the 1st of May, with the loss of all her crew —
except the officers, cook, and one sailor — ^through scurvy, thirst, and
starvation. The San Antonio arrived on April 11th, with the loss of
eight of her crew by scurvy. The San Josi was never heard of after
leaving Loretto.
The land expedition was formed into two divisions. Don Gaspar
de Portala, who had been appointed Military Governor of the new
territory by Don Jos^ de G^vaez^ the special agent of the King of
Spain, appointed Captain Bivera y Moncado to take charge of tiie
first ; the Governor himself taking charge of the second. Bivera and
his party, consisting of Father Crespo, twenty-five soldiers, six mulet-
eers, and a party of Lidians from Lower California, started from Villa-
cata on the 24th of March, 1768, and arrived at San Diego on the 14th
of May. This was the first white settlement in Upper California.
Father Begart, a German Jesuit, who lived for many years in
Lower California, on the expulsion of his Order from that territory,
returned to Manheim, his native place, where, in 1773, he published
an "Historical Sketch of the American Peninsula of Calif omia> " in
which he states that no white ms^ had ever lived in Upper Califomia
until the year 1769.
The second division, accompanied by Father Junipero, started
from Villacata on the 16tb of May, and arrived at San Diego July Isi
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EABLY mSTOBY. 9
The worthy father organized the mission on the 16th of July ; and the
first native Califomian was baptized on the 26th of December.
On the 14th of Jnly, Govemor Portala^ accompanied by Fathers
Joan Crespi and Francisco Gomez, and fifty-six white persons^
including Captain Biyera, a sergeant, and thirty-three soldiers, Don
Miguel Constanzo^ engineer, a party of emigrants from Sonora, and a
nxmiber of Indians from Lower California, started out to find Monterey,
for the purpose of founding the mission there. By some means or
other, they did not find the bay of Monterey ; but, continuing their
wanderings to the north, ^ey, on the 25th of October, 1769, dis-
covered the gem of the Pacific — ^the bay of San Francisco, one of the
finest harbors in the world, so securely land-locked and sheltered that
none of the keen explorers who had been within a few miles of it, had
succeeded in discovering its entrance. Having given the bay the
name of San Francisco — ^the titular saint of the missionaries — ^the party
returned to San Diego, which they reached on the 24th of Janu*
aiy, 1770, after an absence of six months and ten days.
Some writers credit Father Junipero Serra with the discovery of
this beautiful bay; but there are no good reasons for believing that
he ever saw it for nearly six years after its discovery. His name is
not included in the list of those who accompanied Govemor Portala^
whose party made the discovery. On the contrary, it is distinctly
stated by Father Palou, the chronicler of the missions, that ''Father
Junipero, with two other missionaries and eight soldiers, remained
behind at San Diego."
It was discovered soon after their return, that the provisions on
hand were only sufficient for a few weeks, with little prospect of relief
unless a vessel, then several months overdue, should make her appear-
ance. It was decided that, if she did not arrive before the 20th of
March, the party would return to ihe missions in the lower territory,
and abandon the upper one. The arrangements were completed for
this purpose when, on the 20th, the San Antonio made her appear-
ance, or California would have been abandoned, and the most im-
portant events in her history would never have been written.
Scarcely any importance appears to have been attach^ to the
discovery of the grand bay in which the ships of all nations have since
found wealth and safety. It was upwards of six years before any
attempt was made to found a mission on its shores.
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10 THB NATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBNIA.
THE CHANGES IN ITS BOUNDAMEa
As explained in a preceding portion of this chapter, the name Gali-
f omia» was originally applied either by Grixalva to the peninsula of
Lower Calif ornia^ under the supposition that it was an island, or by Ber-
nal Diaz, to a bay in the same yicinify. Through causes which do not
come within the province of our purpose to explain, in the course of
the century succeeding its adoption, this mysterious name of California^
which has since attracted the attention of the whole civilized world, had
spread to such an extent that it embraced the entire continent to the
north, as far as the arctic circle, as well as a considerable portion of the
territory on the south of both the points to which it is claimed to have
been originally applied.
In 1536, we find it applied by the Spaniards to the southern portion
of the great peninsula which extends on the western side of North Amer-
ica, and to the whole Pacific Coast, from the 32d degree of north latitude
to the limit of the frigid zone. Subsequentiy, they caused it to include
that portion of the continent northwest of Mexico, and extending east
to Canada ; claiming the whole country by right of a Pope's bulL
Nor were the Spaniards the only nation that aided in extending the
dominion of the name of California. Jean Bleau, a famous Dutch
geographer, published an extensive work on the geography of the Pa-
cific coast, in 1662, at Amsterdam, in which he includes, tmder the
name of California^ the whole coast from the northern boundary of
South America to Behring*s straits^ (then called the straits of Anian,)
This application of the name was followed by many French, Spanish,
English, German, and Russian writers on geography, during the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries. Until as recently as 1750, Eodiack, a
portion of the late Russian territory of Alaska, was included in Califor-
nia^ in many works published relating to the Pacific and northwest coast
Yet, notwithstanding that it denominated so extensive a section of
the North American continent, it was not until towards the close of the
eighteenth century, that the name of California began to be generally
known in Europe or the United States — ^being considered of so littie
importance as to be rarely mentioned, except by writers on geography.
In a map of the world, published in the year 1554, at Venice, a copy
of which is in the Odd FeUows' Library at San Francisco, the continent
of North America unites with Asia^ the river Colorado is shown as
having its source in the mountains of Thibet, and empties into the
Gulf of California, after meandering through the continent for more
than fifteen thousand milea
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EARLT HI8T0BY. 11
On 'Rngliftli maps, published as recently as 1750, California is repre-
sented as an island, extending from Cape Si Lucas to the forty-fifth
degree of latitude. It was not until Father Begart's book on California
was published at Manheim, in 1771, that California was known to be a
portion of the American continent by geographers, and many years
after it was still referred to as a peninsula.
Towards the dose of the seventeenth century, the Spaniards had lost
a considerable portion of their loosely held territory, by the encroach-
ments of the British, Bussians, and Americans, on its northern and
northeastern borders, as well as by absolute abandonment, so that for
nearly a hundred years, the boundaries of California proper, included
only the peninsula known as Lower California, and the strip of coun-
try embraced within a line arbitrarily drawn from the head of the Gulf
of Mexico to the shore of the Pacific Ocean, considerably to the south
of the present harbor of San Di^o.
After the settlement of the territory north of the peninsula, by the
missionaries, in 1769, it being considered a portion of the same coun-
try, inhabited by the same race of people, it was again called Califor-
nia, but distinguished from the older territoiy by being called New, or
Upper California. It had been recognized for several years previously
as New Albion, a name given to it by Sir Francis Drake, who, while on
an eiploring expedition on the coast, in 1759, took possession of the
coTintiy in the name of Queen Elizabeth of England. Many of the
English writers described it as '^ Drake's Land, back of Canada.'* It
is a portion of this Upper California, or New Albion, this land ''behind
Canada," which now forms the flourishing State of California.
The boundaries of the new territoiy thus re-acquired by Spain,
through the services of the missionaries, was never veiy accurately
defined until its purchase by the United States from Mexico, which
had acquired it by the " right of revolution." The missionaries, from
1796 till about 1820, were literally ''monarchs of all they surveyed"—
no one questioning their pretensions. When La Perouse visited the
country, in 1786, the authority of the military governor of the two Cali-
fomias extended over about eight htmdred leagues. Although under
the control of a military officer, the territories were purely religious
colonies. There were no settlements outside of the twenty-one mis-
sions which then existed at different points along the coast, none of
which were located more than a few miles from the sea.
In 1835, according to Forbes, the British Consul on the coast at
that time, the boundaries of Upper Cfdifomia, under the control of the
missionaries and early settlers, were about five hundred miles in length
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12 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIPOBNIA.
by an average breadth of about forty miles, forming an area of abont
twenty thousand square miles, or thirteen millions of English statute
acres. No settlements had been attempted in the foot-hills at that
date.
When the United States commenced negotiations for the acquisi-
tion of the territory, Oalifomia was considered as including the penin-
sida and the territory extending from it on the Pacific coast, northward,
as far as the southern limit of Oregon ; Cape Mendocino, in latitude
40^ 27^ being assumed by the United States as the extreme northern
limit of the Mexican territory — ^though the govemment of that cotmtry
claimed to a higher parallel of latitude, in accordance with a treaty
made between the two governments in May, 1828. But the northern
limit of the actual Mexican settlements in California^ at that time, were
San Francisco, in 37° 47' north latitude, and longitude 122^ 22' west,
and Cape Si Lucas, on the south, in 22^48' north latitude, and 109^47'
longitude.
By the treaty between the United States and Mexico, of May, 1848,
the territory obtained by the United States, extending eastward from
the Pacific Coast was so extensive, and so little known, that the mem-
bers of the Convention which assembled at Monterey in 1849 to frame
a Constitution for the then embryo State of California, found it exceed-
ingly difficult to decide how far they should extend the border of the
new State into this terra incognita. The committee appointed for that
purpose proposed to make the boundaries, the ocean on the west, Oregon
on the north, Mexico on the south, and the 116th parallel of longitude
on the east, which would have included about one half of the present
State of Nevada, the territory of which, at that time, was supposed to
be a barren, worthless wilderness. It was proposed by one member
of the Convention to amend the report by adopting the line of separa-
tion between California and New Mexico, as marked on Fremont's map,
which would have included a great portion of Utah, as well as the whole
of Nevada. Another member proposed to amend the report by extend-
ing the eastern boundary to the 105th parallel of longitude, which
woidd have included Nevada^ Utah, and portions of Nebraska, as
weU as nearly the whole of Colorado. The matter, after consider-
able debate, was finally decided by adopting the following boundaries,
which are those at present existing : " Commencing at the point of
intersection of the 42nd degree of north latitude with the 120th degree
of longitude west of Greenwich, and running south on the line of said
120th degree of west longitude until it intersects the 39th degree of
north latitude ; thence running in a straight line in a southeasterly
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EABLT HI9T0BY. 13
direddoiiy to the Biyer Colorado, at a point where it intersects the 35th
degree of north latitude ; thence down the middle of the channel of said
river to the booadarj line between the United States and Mexico, as
established by the treaty of May 30th, 1848 ; thence running west^ and
along said boundary line to the Pacific Ocean, and extending therein
three English miles ; thence running in a northwesterly direction, and
following the direction of the Pacific Coast to the 42nd degree of north
latitude ; thence on the line of said 42nd degree of north latitude to tiie
place of beginning ; also, all the islands, harbors, and bays along and
adjacent to the Pacific Coast"
These boundaries embrace a territory of about seven hundred miles
in length by about two hundred miles in average breadth — covering
nearly one hundred and fifty-nine thousand square miles ; the longest
line, seven hundred and ninety-seven miles, being from Crescent City,
Del Norte County, to Fort Tuma, in San Diego County; forming a State
larger than any other in the North American Bepublic, except Texas —
three times as large as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land, and nearly as large as the whole French Empire.
THE MISSIONS— THEIB BEGINNING AND END.
We have already shown that the first successful efibrts towards civ-
ilization in Upper California were made by monks of the Order of Si
Francis. Without going into details of the history of these real
pioneers of the State, or of the missions they founded, these mis-
sions form such an important link in the chain of events that mark the
progress of California^ that the merest sketch of its history woidd be
incomplete, were they omitted. Besides, these genevous old Padres
deserve a passing notice, as a mark of recognition of their well-intended
but ill-directed labors in the service of God and man. What pro-
foundly interesting material for the moralist, the virtues and weaknesses
of these kind old men furnish. How true to them has been the prov-
erb that *' the love of money is the root of all evil." While few Christ-
ians, or philanthropists, can approve of that religion, or system of gov-
ernment, which aims at no higher purpose than to cultivate the fears of
the untutored child of nature in order to make him labor for the advan-
tage of his teacher — ^none can ponder over the sweeping destruction
of the wretched natives which followed the abolishment of the missions
without feeling pity for the miserable remnant of the. race* remaining,
who are neither savage nor civilized, having the vices of both conditions,
but the virtues of neitheii'^
For several years after the establishment of the first three missions,
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14 THE NATUBAL WEALTfi OP CALIFOBNU.
briefly referred to heretofore, the missionaries were liberallj sastained
with means for their support and for the extension of operations, both
by grants from the Spanish government, which was most anxious for
the settiement'of the country, and its annexation to that empire, and
by contributions and endowments from zealous Catholics of Spain and
Mexico, who were anxious that all the natives should be converted to
Christianity. These grants and collections had been previously formed
into what was called the "Pious Fund of Calif omia^** during tiie days of
the Jesuits, but on the expulsion of that order was placed under the
control of the Convent of San Fernando, of the Order of St Francis,
in the City of Mexico, from whence all the missionaries were sent
By tiie aid of this fund, the increase of their herds and flocks, and the
labors of the natives, in the course of a few years the missionaries
became wealthy, and, but for the radical error of the whole system,
which required separation from the world to insure success, they might
have been in existence to-day — one of the wealthiest religious commu-
nities on earth — ^with their proselytes as happy and contented as they
are now wretched and miserable.
For sixty years after their settlement the missionaries had an almost
undisturbed field in which to test the eflSciency of their schemes for
civilizing the natives. They extended their dominions from San Diego
to San Francisco, established missions at intervals of twenty or thiriy
miles between these places; took possession of the whole country, by
causing the lands of one mission to join with another, so that free
settlers, who even in those early days desired to dwell in the land, were
as effectually excluded as if the whole coast had been surrounded by a
wall — ^for the Holy Fathers were the temporal as well as the spiritual
lords of the land, and there was no appeal from their decisions. They
cultivated the vine, the olive, and the fig, and enjoyed all the comforts
and luxuries a genial climate, a generous soil, and abundance of cost-
less labor could produce; for the whole race of natives were their ser-
vants, working for food and raiment of their own production. In 1831
there were 18,683 Indians domesticated at the missions, while their
horses, cattle and sheep multiplied amazingly on the virgin pastures that
covered the valleys of the Coast Bange. But, as the Fathers waxed
rich, they seemed to have relaxed their efforts for the conversion of the
heathen, and paid more attention to the cultivation of their broad acres
than to civilizing their neophytes.
After founding twenty-one missions along the coast, (the last of
which, in 1823) they appear to have abandoned all the natives of the
interior to their fate, as there is no proof that any effort was ever made
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EABLT mSTOBT. 16
by the missioiiaries to explore the interior of the territory, to ascertain
whether the conntry or its inhabitants were worth cnltivating. From
1800 to 1822 the Fathers appear to have experienced the most halycon
days of the system, living in patriarchal state, with almost regal reven-
ues and powers. Beyond the mere routine of religions formality, their
priestly office had degenerated into managers of farms, flocks and herds,
and traders in produce.
About the year 1800, vessels from Boston, New York, and England,
while sailing in search of adventures, along the shores of the '' South
Seas," or on the "North West Coast," as this then unknown portion of
the world was called, occasionally found their way through the Golden
Oate, to trade with the missionaries for hides, tallow, and wine, and'
other produce of the missions, the white and red wines of which soon
obtained high repute. The Mission of San Gabriel annually made
from four hundred to six hundred barrels of wine, and several of the
other missions nearly as much.
The overthrow of the Spanish dominion in Mexico, in 1822, was the
death blow of the mission system, although it had began to decay sev-
eral years previously. No new' missions were founded after 1823.
The precautions the Fathers had taken to prevent free emigrants
settling in the territory redounded to their injury, because it deprived
them of all means of self defence, under the new order of things tiie
change of government introduced, as, at the time of framing the Con-
stitution for the Mexican Bepublic, population was, very properly,
considered as the basis of representation, when, having only a few
white inhabitants — ^the Indians not being taken into consideration —
Upper California was denied representation as a State, and was declared
a Territory, entitled to a representative in the Congress, who had no
vote. The first delegate was a sergeant of one of the military com-
panies, who held that office for two years, because no other eligible
resident was to be found.
Yery soon after the independence of Mexico, the great riches pos-
sessed by the California missions had become a subject of much solici-
tude to Uie Mexican Congress, and in 1826 a law was passed to deprive
the Fathers of their lands, and of the labor of the Indians — stopping
their salaries, and appropriating the "Pious Fund" to the service of
the Bepublic.
The accumulation of wealth by the Fathers had grown to be enor-
mous. According to Bev. Walter Colton, Chaplain of the U. S. ship
Congress, the first Protestant clergyman that resided in California^ in
1825, the Mission of San Francisco owned 76,000 head of cattle, 950
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16 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
tame horses, 2,000 breeding mares, 84 stud of choice breed, 820 mides^
79,000 sheep, 2,000 hogs, and 466 yoke of working oxen.
The Santa Clara Mission had 74^280 cattle, 407 yoke of working
oxen, 82,540 sheep, 1,890 horses broken to saddle, 4235 breeding
mares, 725 mules, and 1^000 hogs. This mission, in the year 1823,
branded 22,400 calves, as the increase of that year.
The Mission of San Jos^ had 62,000 cattle, 840 broken horses, 1,500
mares, 420 mtdes, 310 yoke of working oxen, and 62,000 sheep.
The Mission of San Joan Bautista, as early as 1820, owned 43,870
cattle, t,360 tame horses, 4870 mares and colts, and 69,500 sheep.
The San Carlos Mission, in 1825, had 87,600 cattle, 1,800 horses
and mares, 365 yoke of working oxen, and 7,500 sheep.
The Soledad Mission in 1826 owned 36,000 head of cattle ; a larger
number of horses and mares than any other mission ; 70,000 sheep,
and 300 yoke of oxen.
The Mission of San Antonio, in 1822, had 52,800 head of cattle,
1,800 tame horses, 3,000 mares, 500 yoke of oxen, 600 mules, 48,000
sheep, and 1,000 hogs.
The San Miguel Mission, in 1821, had 91,000 cattle, 1,100 tame
horses, 3,000 mares, 2,000 mules, 170 yoke of oxen, and 47,000 sheep.
The Mission of San Luis Obispo had 87,000 cattle, 2,000 tame
horses, 3,500 mares, 3,700 mules, and 72,000 sheep. One of the
Fathers of this mission took $100,000 with him when he left for Spain,
in 1828.
All the other missions were equally rich in live stock ; while the
specie in the coffers of the Fathers, and value of the gold and silver
ornaments of the churches, exceeded half a million of dollars.
Here again the errors of the mission system became apparent. The
wretched natives, educated to obey the Fathers in all things, without
being taught to depend upon themselves in any way, when deprived of
their directors, became more dangerous to the few settlers then in the
territory than the wild Indians of the interior. On the representations
of these settlers, who became every year more numerous and influen-
tial, the Congress was induced, a year or two afterwards, to repeal that
portion of the law relating to the natives, and they were permitted to
return to t}ie missions. But they were never again as contented, or as
much tmder control as before. The products of the labor of such of
them as returned to work on the mission ranches, together with the
hides and tallow obtained from their flocks and herds, enabled the
Fathers to maintain themselves in tolerable affluence till the year 1833,
when the Congress enacted a* law to abolish the missions entirely, to
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EARLY mSTOBT. 17
remove the missionaries, and to divide their lands and cattle among
the natives and settlers. Santa Anna coming into power through the
aid of the church party, before the law conld be carried into effect, it
was repealed.
It was a very narrow escape for the Fathers, however. Commis-
sioners had been appointed by the government to engage emigrants in
Mexico, who were to be paid half a doUar per day tUl their arrival in
California^ with a free passage, and provisions on the way.
Nearly three hundred men, women, and children arrived at San
Francisco in 1834 to form a colony on the strength of this confiscation
law; but Santa Anna had sent messengers overland with instructions to
Figueroa^ the Gk>vemor of the Territory, who, when the emigrants
arrived, informed them of the changed condition of afiGftirs, and the
missions escaped spoliation for that time. But their end was near, for
amid all the turmoils and political convulsions that distracted Mexico
during the ensuing ten years, every party that managed to get hold of
the reins of government continued to fleece the Fathers out of some-
thing, tOl, little by little, they were deprived of all their privileges.
The missions became neglected, the Indians could no longer be
induced to plant crops, and there was nobody else who would, so the
fields were overgrown with weeds, and the Fathers became careless,
tilling thousands of their cattle to obtain the price of their hides and
tallow. Matters grew from bad to worse tmtil 1840, when the Congress
took charge of the missions, and m<5st of them were permitted to go to
ruin. In 1845, several of those remaining were sold at auction to who-
ever would buy them, and the miserable Indians, whose labors had buUt
them up, were abandoned to their fate. Thus ended the mission sys-
tem of California^ a system which had clearly ^'outlived its usefulness,"
but had prepared the way for a better civilization, in which the imfor-
tmiate natives of the soil were not destined to participate.
The* last of the old missionaries, Father Altemira, the Padre of San
Bafael and Sonoma at the time of the abolishment of the missions,
was living at Teneriffe, one of the Canary Islands, in 1860.
The following is a list of the missions, the date of their formation,
and where located :
Karnes. When Founded. Where Located.
Itt . .San Diego July 16, 1769. Latitude 32048'
*— 2iid. .San Carlos de Monterey June 3, 1770 Latitude 36044'
— 8rd. .Son Antonio de Padua July 14, 1771 Latitude deP30r
4th. .Son Gabriel Sept 8, 1771 Latitude 3401(r
^5th. .San Luis Obispo Sept 1, 1772 Latitude 3503©'
6tli. .San Francisco de los Dolores Oct 9, 1776. Latitude 37057''
2
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18 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNLL
Karnes. When Founded. Where Located.
7th. .San Juan Capistrano Nov. 1, 1776 Latitude 33026'
8th. .Santa Clara Jan. 18, 1777 Latitude 37O20'
9th. .San Buenaventura March 21, 1782 Latitude 33-36'
10th. .Santa Barbara Dec 4, 1786 Latitude U^iO"
11th. .La Purisima Concepdon Dec 8, 1787 Latitude 35° —
12th. .Santa Cruz Aug. 28, 1791 Latitude 37^ —
*^13th. .Nuestra Sefiora La SoUdad Oct 9, 1791 Latitude 36^38'
-^14th .San Jos^ June 11, 1797 Latitude 3703(r
■ — -ISth. .San Juan Bautista June 24, 1797 Latitude 36^58'
— 16th. .San Miguel July 25, 1797 Latitude 35^48'
17th. .San Fernando Key Sept 8, 1797 Latitude 34^16'
18th. .San Luis Bey June 13, 1798 Latitude 33^3^
19th. .Santa Inez Virgin y Martyr Sept 17, 1804 Latitude 34052^
20th. .San Bafael Dec 14, 1817 Latitude 38^ —
"^2l8t. .San Francisco de Solano de Sonoma April 25, 1820 Latitude 38^30^
These missions were all built on one general plan, but some were
constructed of better materials, and more artistically finished than
others, according to the locality and skill of the missionaries in charge,
who generally acted as architects^ masons, and superintendents. They
usually formed three sides of a square in outline. In the middle was
the church, on which the greatest amount of labor was always expended,
in order to make it as large and as handsome as possible. Its interior
was as highly decorated as the means of the presiding Father would
admit. Its walls were always adorned with gorgeously colored pic-
tures of subjects calculated to attract the attention of the simple minded
natives, while about the altar were placed massive gilt candlesticks,
images, gold and silver vessels, and everything that had a tendency to
attract special attention to them. The old Mission Church, at Santa
Clara, which still exists, in excellent repair, is an interesting specimen
of the skill of the missionaries, and of the labor of the natives. At this
mission the houses of the natives formed five rows of streets, and
were more comfortable than at any other.
The old Mission of San Juan, which stands fronting the town of San
Juan South, is another good illustration of these relics of the past.
Its adobe walls, with their long corridors of massive arches, is strongly
in contrast with the modem brick convent adjoining, in which one hun-
dred young ladies are taught the same religion the founders of the mis-
sions sought to propagate among the natives.
The Santa Barbara Mission, which also continues in tolerably good
repair, is one of the most pretentious of these ancient structures. At
each comer of the front of this building there is a tower thirty-five feet
high, surmounted by double belfries, above each of which is the sym-
boli<3al cross. In front of this massive fa9ade there still remains the
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EABLY HI8T0BT, 19
ruins of a large fountain, and the signs of the walks and parterres the.
Fathers delighted to cultivate.
The houses occupied by the priests were always close to the churcH,
and behind them were arranged the workshops and storehouses. Most
of the main buildings were constructed of adobe, or unbumt clay,
moulded into masses as large as a man could conveniently lift, and
were roofed with tiles partially burned, to better stand the weather.
The quarters occupied by the natives were generally at some distance
from the church, and consisted sometimes of rough adobe walls, cov-
ered with leaves, and at others of mere huts, such as the Indians usually
constructed for themselves in the wilderness.
Near the Indian quarters, which were called the rancJieria, was the
castUlOy in which resided the garrison, generally three or four Mexican
cavalry soldiers — an accompaniment of every mission. This citadel
was made as strong as possible, to withstand attacks from the Indians,
in case of outbreaks among them, which were of frequent occurrence
during the early days of the settlement. The soldiers who resided at
the missions were a worthless set of ruffians, most of them having been
transported to California as a punishment for crimes committed in
Mexico.
In addition to the military stationed at the missions there were dis-
tinct military establishments called Presidios, maintained by the Span-
ish government to aid in preserving peace among the natives, as well as
to repel any attempt at invasion by foreign powers. There were four
of these Presidios — ^located at San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco,
and Santa Barbara, the chief harbors in the territory. Each was for-
tified with high walls made of adobe, on which were mounted a few
guns of small calibre. The garrisons were rarely inside these for-
tifications. Being under but little restraint, they roamed over the
country, or settled upon some pleasant spot, took one of the converted
Indian women for a wife, and obtained a grant of land as a dower.
The first grant of land in the territory, by the Spanish government,
was made on the 27th of November, 1775, to Manuel Butron, a Span-
ish soldier, who married Marguerita^ one of the converts of the Mis-
sion of San Carlos.
Many of the old Spanish soldiers and their descendants are living
in California, at this time, on ranches granted to them for services at
these Presidios. One of these reHcs of the past was living at Santa
Barbara in 1865, and was quite a curiosity in his way. He wore knee
breeches and buckles, and silver buttons on his jacket, as in the days
of old, and was fond of telling about the events that occurred while
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20 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
Calif omia was under the dominion of Spain. He was in Monterey in
the year 1800, and had such a vivid impression of the great earthquake
of 1812 as to give quite an interesting account of the forty days shaking
which then occurred. He was with Captain Morago on the first expe-
dition sent to explore the country, when that Captain discovered the
San Joaquin River, and reached the Sierra Nevada, giving the present
name to Calaveras county, in consequence of finding the boned of so
many dead Indians scattered about What changes have taken place
in the country during the life of this old resident !
It appears to have been the design of the Spanish government to
settle the country by such men, as it authorized the laying out of
''pueblos,'' or towns, near each of the presidios and missions, in which
every settler was to have had a two hundred vara lot of ground, as a
homestead, with the privilege of certain common and timber lands,
laid out for the use of the villages. This relic of Spanish rule in Cali-
fornia has been the source of much litigation since the country has
come into the possession of the Americans, as the titles to lands made
by the Spanish or Mexican authorities are recognized in the courts of
the United States.
The site on which the Ciiy of San Francisco has been built was a
portion of the pueblo of the mission located there. A number of par-
ties claimed this land, on the pretext that there was no pueblo at this
place, but the Supreme Court of the United States having decided that
there was, a new cause of litigation arose, to decide who were the law-
ful custodians of the four leagues of these pueblo lands — ^by whom, and
to whom, they should be distributed. These points continue to attract
much attention, and are of vital importance to the present and future
prosperity of the State.
There were also three independent towns, or pueblos, altogether
separate from the missions and presidios, formed by the old Spanish
or Creole soldiers discharged from the service, who married among
the natives and settled at these places, which were : Los Angeles, San
Jos^, and Branciforte — ^now Santa Cruz.
1- THE ABORIGINES OF CALIFORNIA
There is scarcely any subject connected with the early history of
the State, more instructive or suggestive, as exhibiting its natural
wealth, than the condition of its original inhabitants, when they were
first discovered.
\ Owing to the studied efforts of the missionaries, to misrepresent
the mental and physical condition of the native Califomians, in order
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EABLT HISTOBT. 21
to palliate their own conduct in holding them in bondage for so many
years, it is not safe to trust the writings of the Fathers on this subject.
According. to their reports, the unfortunate race stood at the very foot
in the scale of humanity — ^were inferior in intelligence to the Bosjes-
men of Africa^ and worse in their habits than the disgusting
aborigines of Australia. Such a character not only does injustice to
the aborigines of California, but to the country that gave them birth;
although it is generally accepted by those who form an estimate of the
condition and disposition of the race, by the wretched remnant of it
now remaining. It is necessary to go back to the period ere he
became sophbticated by civilization, to form a just estimate of the
aboriginal Califomian, or of the country he inhabited. Fortunately,
there are numerous disinterested sources through which the most
reliable information on the subject may be obtained, from the date of
their first discovery.
^ It is unjust to charge him, as do some, with being indolent^
because his native land furnished him with abundance of food, without
much exertion on his part ; or to say he was cowardly, because he was
not continually at war wit& his neighbors, in an incessant struggle for
existence — the normal condition of most savage races ; or to consider
him more savage than other savages, because he built only frail houses
and made but few clothes, which the mildness of the climate, and the
fashions of his race, enabled him to dispense with. Some writers even
go so far as to insist that the Califomian Indians were lower, as types
of humanity, than the Fejee or Sandwich Islanders, because the
latter made clothes, cultivated the soil, and were skilled in the use of
weapons of warfare. Such writers shoidd remember that the islanders
were compelled to make garments, to protect themselves against the
heat and cold of their country; were obliged to cidtivate the soil, or
starve, as it produced but little ' spontaneously, and had to become
dexterous in the use of weapons of warfare, in order to avoid being
eaten by their conquerors. No such exigency or necessity attended
the life of the aboriginal Califomian. Is it fair, then, to charge him
with indolence, because his beneficent Creator had abundantly pro-
vided for all his wants, and left him but little to do except to enjoy
life ? No country in the world was as well supplied by Nature, with
food for man, as California, when first discovered by the Spaniards.
Every one of its early visitors have left records to this effect — ^they all
found its hills, valleys and plains filled with elk, deer, hares, rabbits,
quail, and other animals fit for food ; its rivers and lakes swarming
with salmon, trout, and other fish, their beds and banks covered with
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22 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBKXA.
mussels, clams, and other edible mollusca ; the rocks on its sea shores
crowded with seal and otter ; and its forests fall of trees and plants,
bearing acorns, nuts, seeds and berries, while its climate was so mild
and genial, that clothing was not a necessity. It would haye been
strange indeed, if an uncivilized race, whose lot was C€kst in such a
pleasant place, had not been fotmd enjoying life, as they understood
ii It may have been their misfortune to have been bom in so desir-
able a country — one so well adapted for the dwelling-place of their
superiors; but it is not just to charge such a circumstance against
them as a faidt, or to accuse them of indolence when there was no
necessity for them to labor. Equally unjust is it, to charge them with
being stupid, and incapable of instruction, in the face of the fact that
it was their labors that enriched the missions, and proved to the world
the latent value of the soil of California. Nor is it true that, as a race^
they were cowardly. The record shows how bravely many of the
chiefs and tribes contested the encroachments of the first settlers on
their lands. Marin cotmiy owes its name to the chief of the Lecatuit
Indians who inhabited that section of the State until 1824, and for
many years defied all the forces sent to dispossess him. Sonoma, the
name of another county, containing one of the most beautiful valleys
on the coast, derives its name from a famous chief of the Chocuyens.
Solano, the name of another county, was once that of a warlike chief of
tiie Suisuns. Napa county derives its name from the tribe that once
owned the land between San Pablo bay and Mount St. Helens, which
now forms its beautiful farms, orchards, and gardens, which they
fought long and fiercely to retain as their hunting grounds. So with
Colusa, Shasta, Tolo, and several other counties — their names are the
mausoleums of extinct tribes of aborigines, who bravely struggled
against an inexorable destiny, which has in so few years swept them
away.
The annals of the State, during the past eighteen years, either
prove how fiercely the natives fought for the land of their birth, or that
many thousands of dollars were expended in exterminating a race of
men who did not deserve thus to die.
They are accused of having been destitute of any conception of
religion, aflfection. trade, art, or any of the higher attributes of
humanity. This is unjust to them, as well as to California. If it be
true, as it is asserted by philosophers, that Nature dominates over
man, and constrains his actions through the agency of the scenery and
physical conditions that surround him — a theory strangely confirmed
by the distinguishing traits of all civilized nations — then CaUfomia,
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EABLT HWTOBY. 23
with its cloudless skies, salubrions air, gorgeous sceneiy, and abund-
ance of all the elements that minister to human happiness, could not
haye produced a race destitute of faculties to enjoy the blessings pro-
vided for ihem by their Creator. Nor did it produce such a race ;
there is abundance of proof to the contrary.
Cabrillo, the discoverer of the country, who spent six months
among the natives who dwelt in what is now Santa Barbara county,
has left on record the names of forty towns, or villages (pueblos) which
existed in that section of the State, at the time of his visit.
Yiscayno, who visited the same section of the coast in 1602, or
sixfy years after Cabrillo, confirms all that his predecessor had stated
about the condition of the aborigines, and says : fthfly IJYP^ ^y
hunting fishing, and gathering seeds, nuts, and wild fruit. This
authority states, further, that on the Island of Santa Catalina, off the
coast of Santa Barbara, the natives had large wooden canoes, capable
of holding twenty persons each, with which they caught large quan-
tities of fish, which they sold to the natives on the main land.
It has been known to the Jesuit Fathers, and Spanish Government in
Mexico, since 1540, that the natives of Upper California traded with
the tribes dwelling far in the interior of the continent, for abalone,
eowiy and other shells, and various other articles. Father Palou says:
" the natives of the main land made rafts, or canoes of the tule, for
fishing, in which they went a great way out to sea." These extracts
are sufficient to show that the natives were not destitute of skill, enter-
prise, or inteUigence.
With reference to their notions of morality, Father Junipero Serra,
the founder of the missions in. Upper California, writing to his
brethren on the peninsula, under date of July 3d, 1769, two days after
his arrival in what is now the State of California, says :
'^The number of savages is immense. All those of this coasts from
the shore of Todos Santos, live very contentedly upon various seeds
and fish, which they catch from their canoes made of tule, with which
they go out a considerable distance to sea. They are very aflEable. All
the males, both large and small, go naked ; but the females are mod-
estly clad, even to the little girls at the breasi''
Father Palou records the same peculiarity of clothing the females,
as do all the early visitors to the coast Captain Woodes Bogers, who
was here in 1711, says none of the young females were permitted to be
seen by him or his crew.
They were remarkable for the affection that existed between parents
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24 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNLL
and children, and for the firmness of the friendships that were formed
among them.
They yere_jiQt-jj[narrelsome^ rarely fighting, and amused them-
selves with games of skill or chance, and dancing, which, if considered
stupid by those accustomed to scenes in other lands, was quite exciting
to them. In their marital relations they did not differ materially from
the Mormons of the present day — ^the daughters and their mother often
being the wives of the same man. Father Palou says : **The first bap-
tisms made at the mission of San Francisco, were of three children, all
bom within two months, sons of an Indian and three sisters, to whom
he was married, as well as to their mother.
They must have had some idea of a future state, or they would not
have burned or buried their ornaments and weapons with the dead, as
was the universal custom. They expressed their ideas of a change
from life to immortality, by saying that "as the moon died, and came
to life again, so man came to life after death;" and believed that the
''hearts of good chiefs went up to heaven and were converted into
stars, to watch over their tribe on earth."
There* were priests, or sorcerers, both male and female, among
them, who pretended to exercise supernatural control over their
bodies, claiming to cure disease by incantations and curious rites and
ceremonies. These priests wore long robes made of human hair, and
were formidable rivals to the missionaries. Scores of these human-
hair robes were burned by the Fathers, before their rivals were driven
out of the field.
Yiscayno says, the natives of Catalina Island had a temple, con-
taining an idol ** which they worshipped with sacrifices." These
excerpts are sufficient to prove, that they were not destitute of all * 'con-
ceptions of religion."
Captain Bogers says, of their honesty, that they never took any-
thing belonging to him, though his carpenters and coopers genen^y
left their tools on shore. Other voyagers speak, in, similar praise of
their honesty.
Forbes says, "their children, taught by the missionaries^ spoke
Spanish, and became polished by conversation."
With reference to their taste and skill in making ornaments,
weapons, and utensils. La P^rouse, who was here in 1786, says: "they
wore ear-rings made of carved wood, bandeaux of feathers round their
heads, and shells strung as beads around their necks and bodies. He
describes some of these feather bandeaux as exceedingly beautiful, and
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EABLT HI8T0BT« 26
as the product of great labor and skill. Langsdorff also notices the
same articles, and sajs he counted in one of these bandeaux four hun-
dred and fifty feathers from the tails of golden woodpeckers. As each
of these birds has but two such feathers — and it is probable that every
bird lolled did not have both in perfect condition — it must have
required much application to obain materials for such an ornament.
Forbes credits them with extraordinary skill in the construction of
their ba^ete^bows and arrows; some of the former, made of the fila-
meutous bark of a tree, were plaited so closely as to be perfectly water-
tight, and although made of very combustible materials, were used for
roasting their grain before it was ground. Many of their baskets were
ornamented with the scarlet feathers of the OricHus phceyiiceus, or with
the black crest feathers of the mountain quail, and were really very
handsome.
Father Palou says the men had wooden swords, that cut almost like
steel, and formidable clubs, as well as bows and arrows, as weapons of
warfare.
Withreference to their ijAywlyue, there appears to be considerable
discrepancy between the statements of different authorities. Yenegas
thought them ''equal to any race"; Captain Bogers says, 'they were tall,
"^^ robust, and straight as pine trees;" Captain Beechey says, "they were
generally above the standard of Englishmen, in hight." In after
years, some of the half-breeds were quite remarkable for their hight —
reaching nearly seven feci
Langsdor£^ surgeon of the Bussian admiral Kotzebue*s ship, which
arrived at San Francisco in September, 1824 states that "many of
them had full, flowing beards." La Perouse also says, "about
half the males he saw had such splendid beards that they would have
made a figure in Turkey, or in the vicinity of Moscow." It is a very
remarkable fact that none of the present race of Indians have any
beards.
The foregoing brief outline of the condition and habits of the abori-
gines of California, before and since their contact with the white race,
wotdd appear to justify the belief that they were capable of reaching a
higher plane of civilization, than that on which they were placed by
the missionaries.
Eminent men of science, from England, France, Bussia, and the
United States, who visited the coast, and saw the unfortunate natives
imier the mission regime, in its palmiest days, all bear witness to the
wretched state of bodily and mental bondage in which they were held.
Captam Beechey considered the method adopted by the Fathers, to
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26 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
obtain "converts," as but "little better than kidnapping." Both men
and women were flogged, or put into the stocks, if they refused to be-
lieve or to labor : other witnesses corroborate this statement.
All the Indian men, except those employed as vacqueroSy or herds-
men, wore no other clothing than a coarse woolen shirt and a breech
cloth. The vacqueros had pants and shoes, more for the sake of
enabling them better to ride the unbroken mustangs than for decency.
The women had a woolen chemise and petticoat, but neither shoes nor
stockings. Both men and women were required to work in the fields
every day, except those who were carpenters, blacksmiths, or weavers.
None of them were taught to read or write, except a few who were
selected to form a choir, to sing and play music, for each mission.
The only instruments were the violin and guitar. They never received
any payment for their labor, except food, clothing, and instructions in
the catechism. The single men and women were locked up in separate
buildings, every night. Both sexes were severely punished with the
whip, if they did not obey the missionaries or other white men in
authority. The Fathers themselves wore but one garment, which
reached from their neck to their heels; this was never washed, but was
worn continually until worn out.
There is no room to doubt that the degradation of the existing
race, is in some degree, the result of the mission system, which has
deprived them of the instincts that Nature had implanted, and left
them no dependence but upon the will of the Fathers, which was im-
potent to save them from extermination by the irresistible force of a
higher civilization, in which they are unfitted to participate.
The Spanish Government appears to have acted with much liber-
ality towards the aborigines, and intended that they should have had
every opportunity to become civilized. It granted them tracts of land
for cultivation, and lots in the pueblos for homesteads. Much of the
land on which the city of San Francisco now stands, was granted to
partially civilized Indians, prior to the year 1820; but a higher power
than earthly Governments had destined that site to be occupied
by a diflferent race.
The most implacable Indian-hater must contemplate with astonish-
ment, not unmixed with awe, the destruction that has overtaken the
native Califomians within the past forty years. When their country
was first discovered, it was thickly populated with tribes, speaking a
variety of dialects, the very names of which have been forgotten.
Mr. Gilroy, the first real settler in the State, who landed at Mon-
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EABLY mSTOBT. 27
terey in 1814, gives ns the following yivid picture of this so-called
mission civilization.
Kit Carson says, when he came to Califomia» in 1829, the valleys
were full of Indian tribes. They were thick everywhere. He saw a
great deal of some large and flourishing tribes that then existed. When
he went there again, in 1859, they had all disappeared, and in answer
to inquiries about them, the people residing in the localities where he
had seen them, told him they had never heard of them. Yount, who
settled in Napa Valley in 1830, says it then contained thousands of
Indians ; it has but few now.
N No estimate appears to have been made of their number until 1823,
when they numbered 100,826, although it was known they had already
decreased extensively. In 1863 they were counted by the Indian De-
partment and found to number only 29,300 men, women and children.
It is doubtful if there are 20,000 remaining, at the close of 1867. At
this rate of decrease, in how few years we shall see the ktst of the Cali-
fornia aborigines 1 Their rapid disappearance is not to be attributed
wholly to their contact with the white race. That mysterious law of
Nature, which has caused the destruction of eo many races of created
beings at various epochs in the world's history, as we find recorded in
the stony leaves of the but partially opened book of the rocks, has willed
the end of the Indian tribes of America^ as well as of the aborigines of
other countries, and no human power can avert ii The census of the
Cherokees, the most intelligent and best educated of all the American
aborigines, taken in May last, exhibits a decrease of 20,000 during the
preceding five years. In Tasmania^ New South Wales, there were but
four of the aborigines of the country remaining in 1866. Among the
Sandwich Islanders, where education, religion and amalgamation are
more general than among the aborigines of any other country, the
same law is in progress of execution The race is rapidly passing
away. The census of 1866 exhibits a decrease of 9,000 during the pre-
ceding five years, out of a popxdation of but little more than 60,000.
^ Our Federal and State Governments have made liberal provision
for the support of the remnant of the aboriginal Califomians. The
first State Laglslature passed a law for their protection, and they are
probably much better off under the existing state of affairs than when
under the rule of the missions. In most of the southern counties
they reside on rancherias, or independent villages, where they raise a
few cattle, sheep, and hogs, and sufficient grain, vegetables, and fruit to
supply their own wants. In San Diego County there are twenty-eight
rancherias, containing altogether about 2,000 natives. None of tha
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28 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNU.
other southern counties contain as many, but there are a number of
rancherias in each. There are also several reservations provided by the
United States government for the protection of those who reside in coun-
ties in which the settlers object to their locating. The Superintendents
of these reservations report the natives residing on them as being
cheerful, contented and obedient, performing all the labor required of
them in a satisfactory manner. Seven hundred and fifty of them, resid-
ing on the Tule Biver Eeservation, in 1866, cultivated and gathered a
crop of 10,000 bushels of wheat, 60,000 pounds of barley, and a large
quantity of vegetables ; dug a ditch five miles long, of sufficient capa-
city to convey water to irrigate the entire reservation ; made a wagon
road twenty-five miles in length, besides performing other less import-
ant labors in the neighborhood.
On the Bound Yalley Beservation, seven hundred of them raised
6,318 bushels of wheat, 1,127 bushels of barley, 8,000 bushels of com,
2,150 bushels of oats, 1,500 bushels of potatoes, besides large quanti-
ties of vegetables, hay, etc. They also made 30,000 fence rails, with
which they inclosed 2,700 acres of land ; erected a bam, 70x60, with
sheds on either side, 12x70 ; and two frame granaries, 40x60 — cutting
all the lumber for the same by hand.
On the Hoopa Yalley Beservation, about six hundred of them raised
a valuable crop of wheat and barley.
On the Smith Biver Beservation, about five^ hundred of them raised
sufficient to maintain themselves.
There are other reservations in Los Angeles, Tehama^ Klamath,
Mendocino, and Fresno counties — each containing about 25,000 acres.
The above results would seem to prove, that under judicious man-
agement, these reservations may be made self-sustaining, while the
Indians on them would be far more comfortable than when permitted to
roam through portions of the State, where they can obtain subsistence
by no other means than the chariiy of the inhabitants.
Having traced the condition and characteristics of the aborigines
of California, from their discovery by the Spaniards, till they fell under
the protecting care of the United States, it will be pertinent to the sub-
ject to make a few remarks concerning their origin, which is really the
most remarkable chapter of their history, as well as that of the State.
The investigations of ethnologists and philologists who have studied
the Hindoo, Chinese, and Japanese annals during the present century,
have brought to light such a chain of evidence as to place beyond
doubt that the inhabitants of Mexico and California^ discovered by the
Spaniards, were of Mongolian origin.
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EABLY HI8T0BT. *29
There is no real cause for surprise at such a discovery, when we
remember that the Greeks and Bomans — ^the compilers of our records
of the world's early history — ^knew nothing of the countries west of the
shores of Africa^ or on the eas^ beyond the 120th degree of longitude
west of Oreenwich. It was not until the thirteenth century that Marco
Polo discoyered Japan, and more than a century after that event, before
Columbus discovered America — ^literally a new world to the chroniclers
of that history.
It was not until Magellan, on the 21st of October, 1520, made a pas-
sage through the straits that now bear his name, that the spherical form
of the earth was demonstrated to the savans and philosophers of Europe.
If they knew so little about the earth itself^ it is not surprising that they
knew so little about its inhabitants, as to compel us to seek for infor-
matioti concerning the early history of • the aborigines of Galifomia) in
countries which were ancient and civilized when Europe was inhabited
by savages.
The Hindoo, Chinese, and Japanese annals all correspond in record-
ing the fact, that about the year 1280, Oenghis Kahn, a great Mongul
Chiei^ whose name was a terror in Euroi>e, at the same time, invaded
China with hordes of barbarians from Tartary, and subjugated its
people, whom his descendants hold in subjection at the present time.
Having accomplished this object, he fitted out an expedition consisting
of 240,000 men, in 4,000 ships, under command of Kublai Kahn, one
of his sons, for the purpose of conquering Japan. While this expedi-
tion was on the passage between the two countries, a violent storm
arose, which destroyed a great part of this fleet, and drove many of
the vessels on to the coast of America. (The writings of Marco Polo
contain much information concerning this event)
Grotius says, ^'the Peruvians were a Chinese colony, and that the
Spaniards found at the entry of the Pacific Ocean, on coming through
the straits of Magellan, the wrecks of Chinese vessels.'*
There are proofs clear and certain, that Mango Capac, the founder of
the Peruvian nation, was the son of Eublai Kahn, the commander of
this expedition, and that the ancestors of Montezuma^ of Mexico, who
were from Assam, arrived about the same time.
But for the fanaticism of the Spanish priests, who destroyed all the
Mexican records, when Cortes captured the city, there would be less
obscurity on this interesting subject than exists at present
Every custom of the Mexicans, described by their Spanish conquer-
ors» proves their Asiatic origin. They had no written language, but kept
tiieir records by means of quipoa — ^bundles of strings, with knots of
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30 THE NATDBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
various colors — ^precisely similar to those used by the Chinese at thsU;
period. Their ceremonies — civil, military and religious — their music,
weapons, names of their deities, food, ornaments, toys, their system of
notation, and method for calculating time, their agricultural implements
— even to the making of adobes — all were identical with those of GhincL
The strange hieroglyphics found in so many places in Mexico, and
from California to Canada^ are all of Mongolian origin. Similar figures
exist in Siberia, at Nepaul, in India, and in Thibet, which are known
to have been made by the Mongolians. They were the usual signs
made by that race to mark their subjugation of a country. Humboldt,
many years ago, conjectured that these hieroglyphics were of Tartar
origin. It is now positively known that they are.
But, by far the most interesting feature of these recent revelations
about the ancient history of California and Mexico, is the strange fact
that many of the Tartar invaders of these countries were Christians.
We have already shown the connection between the ancient Peru-
vians and Mexicans, and we must again refer to this connection to trace
this fact It is recorded by Vega, the best historian of Peru, that
among the booty obtained by the Spaniards from the palace of the
Incas, was a beautiful jasper, or marble cross> highly polished, three
fourths of an ell in length, and three fingers in breadth, which was
kept in the sacred chamber of the palace, and held in great veneration.
(Vega — vol. ii: chap. 3.)
To account for this extraordinary discovery: Marco Polo says, there
were many Nestorians in the service of Glenghis Kahn, and it is prob-
able that in the expedition sent to conquer Japan, a part of the troops
were commanded by Nestorian officers. The mother of Kublia Kahn's
brother, (the Kahns had many wives), who was uncle to Mango Capac — •
the first Inca of Peru — was a Christian. It is known that she had in
her employ an English goldsmith of great skill, named William Bou-
chier, who made many of the gold and silver articles which fell into
the hands of the Spaniards.
Humboldt refers to the Mexicans having some confused idea or
Christianity — the origin of such ideas is here explained.
The New York Herald^ in November, 1866, contains a communica-
tion from Mexico, concerning a discovery made by a person named
Lyon, about thjee hundred miles to the north-east of Jalapa, of ruins
of Christian places of worship, which had been abandoned before the
conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. Among these ruins were found
a statuette of a man, with the emblems of Christianity — the cross,
lamb, etc. — carefully carved.
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EARLY mSTOBT. 31
Ghrixalya> who was in Yucatan in 1518, states that there were many
great stone crosses in the country at that time, and that the people
worshipped them. The Spaniards, under Cortes^ found many such
crosses in Mexico.
In the Odd Fellows* library at San Francisco, there is an old book,
published at Loraine, in 1579, which contains many strange stories
about this country — ^then called Quivera. This curious book, written
in Latin, contains the following remarkable passage, when referring to
the efforts made at that time to find the straits of Anian: ''The sol-
diers of Yasquirus Goronatus, having found no gold in Yivola^ in order
not to return to Mexico without gold, resolved to come to Quivera
(California); for they had heard much of its gold mines, and that Tatar-
raxus, the powerful king of Quivera^ was amply provided with riches,
worshipped the Saviors cross, and the memory of the Holy Virgin."
In the museum at St Petersburg, there is a great collection of
gold, silver, copper, and stone articles, obtained from the tumuli of
the ancient Moguls, in Siberia, which are identical in design, work-
manship, and materials, to similar articles found under like circum-
stances in Peru, Mexico, and California.
The observations of the expedition to Alaska^ in 1867, revealed the
fact that the inhabitants of the Alutian islands are of unquestionable
Mongolian or Japanese origin — ^thus substituting verify for conjecture
as to the probable origin of the aborigines of the Pacific coast
The curious casas grandeSy or large stone houses which are known
to exist near Culiacan, Mexico, and along the Gila river, the cause of
BO much astonishment to all Americans who had seen them, are the
very counterparts of buildings erected by Mongolians in Thibet^
where they remain at the present time.
The armor belonging to Montezuma, which was obtained by Cortez,
and is now in the museum at Madrid, is known to be of Asiatic manu-
facture, and to have belonged to one of Kublai Kahn's generals.
We could furnish an almost endless number of facts to support the
l^elief, that the Indians whom the Spaniards found in California^ were of
Asiatic origin; but, as our work is not published as a history, we are
compelled to restrict our remarks on this point We hope, however,
that we have furnished sufficient detail to excite the interest of the
reader in the subject
The Chinese, who have become so numerous in California since the
discovery of gold, bear a striking resemblance to the Indians, and are
known to be able to converse with them, in their respective languages,
to an extent that cannot be the result of mere coincidence of expres-
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32
THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIPOBNIA.
sion. This also famishes a strong confirmation of what we have stated
above.
In 1857, a gentleman named Henley — a good Chinose scholar, who
acted as interpreter in the courts of this State for some time — ^pub-
lished a list of words in the Chinese and Indian languages to show
that they were of the same origin. From this list we make an extract
as supporting our remarks :
Indian.
ChlneM.
BnglialL
Indian.
ChlneM,
yJT^gHt^h.
Nang-a.
Nang,
Man.
A-pa.'
A-pa.
Father.
Yi-soa
Boa.
Hand.
A-ma.
A-ma.
Mother.
Keoka.
Keok.
Foot
Ko-lei
A-ka
Brother.
Aek-a-soa
Soo.
Beard.
Ko-chae.
To-chae,
Thanks.
Ynet-o.
Ynet
Moon.
Kgam.
Yam.
Drunk.
Yeeta.
Yat
Sun.
Koolae.
Kn-kay.
Her.
Utyta.
Hota
MndL
Eoo-chne.
Clmekoa
Hog.
Lee. lam.
Ee-lnng.
Deafness.
Choo Koa
Eov-€lu.
Dog.
Ho-ya-pa.
Ho-ab.
Good.
Ti-yam, in the Indian language, is nighi Ti-yam, in the Chinese,
means the Gk>d of the moon, or night Hee-ma^ in Indian, is the Sun.
Hee-ma, in Chinese, means the God of the Sun, or day. Wallae is a
word commonly used among the Ii^dians to designate a friend ; it also
means man. Walla^ in the Hindostanee, means a man. Numbers of
other words coidd be given, but the above are sufficient for our
purpose. "Alta^" the prefix which distinguishes Upper from Lower
California^ is a word of Mongolian origin, signifyimg gold.
In 1813 the British brig Forester, bound from London, England, to
the Columbia Biver, fell in with a dismasted Japanese junk of about
seven hundred tons burden, some one hundred and fifty miles off this
coast, near Queen Charlotte's Island. There were three persons on
board of her alive, who stated they had been eighteen months drifting
about, during which time they had been in sight of the American con-
tinent, but were driven off by the winds and currents. In 1833, another
Japanese junk drifted into the harbor of one of the Hawaiian Islands^
having four of her crew alive, after being at sea for eleven months.
The early settlers in Oregon found the remains of a Chinese junk
imbedded in the mud of the Columbia Biver, several miles from the
coast. The Indians had a tradition about this junk-^that it came
** filled with strange men," many years previously, but nobody knew
whence they came, or where they went
These instances of Chinese and Japanese vessels reaching this coast
so recently, is certainly a proof that they may have done so in earlier
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EABLT HI8T0RT. 83
times ; as both China and Japan had larger fleets of vessels in those
days than at present
^ THE EABLY SETTLEBS.
The advent of settlers, independent of the missions — ^the connect-
ing links between the past and present civilization — ^furnishes material
for an exceedingly romantic and interesting chapter of the early his*
toiyof California.
Who would not like to know the nationality and name of the first
adventurer whose eyes beheld the blue waters of San Francisco's noble
bay, breaking over its sandy^ crescent-shaped beach, now covered
with long lines of stately structores — the seat of a commerce world-
wide in extent ; and of him who first, on some autumn eve, after the
early rains had fallen, climbed the russet hills, and beheld the
unequalled landscape that surrounds it, then so silent, now the center
of so much activity? Was he some bold mariner cast away on the
dreary coast, seeking food and shelter, or some wandering trapper irom
the western wilds, who had traversed the broad continent in search of
peltries to barter for powder and lead? Unfortunately, there were no
records kept of such 'pathfinders, ** through whose enterprise and energy
the world first heard of the natural wealth of California. It was they
who spread abroad the stories about the beauiy of scenery, fertility of
soil, salubrity of climate, and abundance of game in this, then unknown
country, which excited the curiosity of the bold frontiersmen of the
west, and of the venturesome merchant of the north, which led to the
settlement of the country by the Anglo-Saxon race.
At first, like the few plashing drops which precede the refreshing
rain that falls in spring time, imparting vigor and beauty to the pro-
ducts of the earth, these wanderers appear on the scene. Eeceived by
the secluded missionaries as premonitions of a civilization opposed to
that growing so rankly on the virgin soil, every means were used to
keep their influence out of the mission folds; but, little by little, their
numbers increased, until the few spattering drops became a shower,
and the shower a deluge, which ultimately overwhelmed both missions
and missionaries, and planted a new race, with more progressive insti-
tutions in their places.
How new the country seems, when we consider that there are men
still living among us, hale and vigorous, who have stood face to face
with those who first planted the standard of Christian civilization on its
soiL Yet, how mature it is, when measured by its commerce, arts and
manufactures, tiie order of its government, and refinement of its society.
3
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34 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBNIA.
To explain the causes wliich led the first citizens of the United
States into the territory now forming the State of CaHfomia^ it is neces-
sary to refer to the following events in the early history of the Pacific
coast :
"VitusJBering, a Dane, was employed in the year 1728^ byjhe Em*
press CathA.riTiA^ nf Bossia^ to explore the northwest coast of America
and Asia, for the purpose of finding a connection between the Pacific
and Atlantic oceans, which was supposed to exist, but had not, at that
time, been found. It was on this voyage that he discovered the straits
which bear his name, and settled all doubts on that question. The
skins of otters, sables, beavers, and other rare animals, which Bering
collected on this coast during the voyage, and lay at the feet of the
Empress on his return, were so valuable, and the abundance of the ani-
mals that produced them was represented to be so great, that the dis-
covery excited the curiosity of the capitalists, navigators, and adven-
turers of Europe, and several nations established settlements on the
Pacific Coast, for the purpose of collecting these valuable furs. The
Eussians selected the territory recently ceded by them to the United
States. The Bussian American Fur Company was organized in 1799,
with power to hunt all over that territory. Sitka was founded in 1805,
by this company. The Austrians and Danes were their neighbors for
many years. The English soon followed. In 178^ a company was
organized in London, called the King George's Sound Company, for
the purpose of making a settlement on this coast, and trading for furs.
Several ships belonging to that company arrived between 1780 and 1790.
The English East India Company also sent several of their shipi^ here
between 1784 and 1790. About the year 1790, vessels from the United
States began to make their appearance on the coast of the Pacific, in
search of furs. As early as 1784, Thomas Jefferson, then acting as
United States Minister to the Court of France, had become deeply
interested in the subject, from reports of the country made by John
Ledyard, a native of Connecticut, who had been on the coast with
Captain Cook, the celebrated English navigator. Jefferson engaged
this John Ledyard to make a journey through the Islands along
Npotka Sound, for the purpose of obtaining accurate information of
the country. The Bussians, being made aware of Jefferson's object^
had Ledyard arrested on the 24th of February, 1788, while making
explorations on the borders of what is now Washington Territory.
^ On June 5th, 1791, the ship Columbia, from Boston, (Mass.), com-
manded by Captain Bobert Gray, arrived on this coasi^ at a place
called Clyoquot, near the entrance to the straits of Fuca^ and traded
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BABLT mSTOBT. 6S
tip and down the coast during the following spring and sommer. It
was while on one of these trading excursions, to buy furs from the
Indians, that Captain Graj, on the 7th of May, 1792, discovered the
Colombia river, which he named after his ship, the first that ever
sailed up its stream. The report of this discovery, and the valuable
collection of furs Captain Gray brought from this country to Boston,
created considerable excitement; and a number of expeditions were
planned for making a settlement on this coast
> In 1810, the ship AB)cutro8By from Boston, commanded by Captain
Smith, arrived with a number of hunters and trappers^ who landed
and formed a settlement at a place called Oak Point, on the south
bank of the Columbia river, about forty miles from its mouth, where
tliey established a trading post^ which was the firflt ff^t*^*"^^^ ^*
Americans on the Pacific Coast
In 1810, the Pacific Fur Company was organized at New York
under the leadership of John Jacob Astor; and in 1811, Astoria,
Oregon, was founded by this Company, at the place where it stands at
the present time. It was soon after captured by the British, who
drove all the Americans out of the country. Many of these managed \
to find their way into California. One of the most successful of these
pioneer California fur-traders, was Captain WiUiam Sturgis, who, in
some half-dozen voyages, between Boston and the California coast,
between 1800 and 1812, realized so large a fortune as to become one of
the richest merchants in the city of Boston. He died at Boston, in
1864, aged seveniy-five, and left property valued at three millions of
dollars.
"^From 1813 until 1822, there were no Americans on the Pacific coasts
except those connected with these trading posts, or deserters from ves-
sels that visited them.
The following sketch of the ''(Jalifomia trade ** in those early days,
will be interesting. From 1825 until 1834, the whole of this trade was
in the hands of a few Boston merchants. A voyage to this coast and
back, during that time, was an enterprise of very uncertain dura-
tion, generally occupying two or three years. The outward cargo,
which usually consisted of groceries and coarse cotton goods, had to
be retailed to the missionaries and settlers, as tiierewere no ''job-
bers'' in those times, and neither newspapers, telegraphs, nor stages,
through which to inform customers of the ship's arrival The crew
had to travel all over the country to convey the news, which occu-
pied considerable time. It was this portion of their duties thai*
caused so many of them to desert their ships. They saw so much of the
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9Q THE NATURAL STEALTH OF QALIFOBNLL
(^omitrj, became so charmed with the freedom, ease, and plenty, that
prevailed everywhere, that they preferred to remain on shore. Each
of these vessels generally brought several young men as adventurers,
who worked their passage out for the privilege of remaining. Many of
the early settlers, whose children are now among the wealthiest citi*
s^ns in the State, came to California in this manner. It was in one of
these. Calif omia hide-ships, the Jlert, that R H. Dana served his
''two years before the mast," in 1835 and '36, in the book concemii^
which, he gives some interesting scraps of information of early Cali*
lomia society.
The outward cargo being disposed o^ the homeward one had to be
procured. Sometimes, when the season had been too dry, or too wet
for the lazy vacqueros to drive the cattle into the missions to kill,
there were no hides or tallow to be had. On such occasions the vessel
was obliged to remidn till the next season, when a sufficient number of
cattle would be slaughtered to pay for the goods purchased, as there'
Vas no "currency" used in the country, except hides and tallow.
< It was rough travelling in California, in those days, there being no
places for the traveller to obtain food or shelter, except at the missions.
In 1822, there was neither bread, butter, fruit, nor vegetables, to be
h^ at Monterey, the capital of the territory. In fact, there was not a
hotel or public table in the whole country, when it came into the pos-
session ol the United States in 1846. San Diego, being the general
depot for this trade, where the hides and tallow collected from all the
other missions along the coast were stored until a vessel was ready to
leave, it was necessary to make several trips up and down the coast
before the cargo could be collected. As there was no lumber or bar-
xels to be had, the tallow was enclosed in green hides, sewn up in)
packages of one hundred and fiffy to seven hundred pounds in weight, .
aocording to the size of the hide.
A number of stragglers from the Hudson Bay, and other compa-
nies— men of all nationalities — had found their way into California
before 1812, and caused considerable trouble to the missionaries, by
taking the best looking squaws for housekeepers.
. It is known that several of the crew of Vancouver's ship deserted, -
while that celebrated navigator lay at anchor in the harbor of Mon-
terey, in 1793. These men lived among the Indians for a number of
years.
>Ia 1803, the American ^p .iZamncfer,, Captain John Brown, and
the Jser, Captain Thomas Baben, entered the harbor of San Fran-
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EABLY HMTORT. !^g7
Cisco, and increased the number of settlers by deserters from their
.crews. Captain Brown, of the Alexander^ it appears, had lived among
the natives for several years before his arrival on that occasion, and
had caused so much trouble to the missionaries and military author-
ities at San Diego, in 1803, by contraband tradin^^ that he was denied
permission to remain in the harbor, longer than was liecessary to ob-
tain a supply of wood and water. The^e were the first American
vessels that entered the Golden Gate, but not the first that had visited
Galifomia. Captain Cleveland, on board the brig Ddia Byrd, of
Salem, (Mass.,) arrived at San Diego on the 17th of March, 1803.
. y^ In 1807, the ship Juno, of Rhode Island, which had been purchased
•by the Russians at Sitka, arrived at San Francisco, having on board
Count Yon Beseno£^ ambassador from that country to Japan. This
individual remained several weeks in California, and became so
charmed with the country and its inhabitants, that he made arrange-
ments for founding a colony of Russians in what is now Sonoma
county, and engaged to marry the Donna Concepcion Arguello, the
beautiful daughter of the Spanish commandante at San Francisco; but^
-being accidentally killed in Siberia^ while on his way to Russia to ob-
tain the Emperor's permission to settle in California, the marriage
never took place. The beautiful donna, on learning the fate of her
lover, renounced the world, became a Sister of Mercy, and devoted
her life^to alleviating the sufferings of the sick, and educating the
children of the poor, until she died at Benicia, in 1860. The death <^
Count Yon Resenoff also deferred the establishment of the colony till
tiie year 1812, when one hundred Russians, and one hundred Kodiac
Indians, arrived from Sitka and settled on a spit of land, about thirty
miles from the shore of Bodega Bay, in latitude 38^ 18^ — fifiy-eight
miles north-west from San Francisco. They came for the purpose of
catching seal, otter, beaver, and other animals, the fur of which was
very valuable; and the animals that produced them abounded on all
tiie rivers and creeks on the coast at that time. They were unwelcome
gaests to the missionaries and Mexican Government, but apx>ear to
have ingratiated themselves into favor with the Indians, a great many
of whom they employed trapping and hunting, and cultivating the land
around their fori
i^In 1820, they formed another settlement on the river Sebastian,
forty miles north of Bodega, which they named Slawianska; Fort Ross,
as it was called by the settlers ; or Mount Ross, as it is known at
present They also had a settlement on the Farralones, In 1841,
these settlements contained eight hundred Russians, and nearly two
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.38 THE NATUBAL T7EALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
thousand Indians. Thej exported a large number of skins, and con-
siderable quantities of grain and meat to the Bussian settlements at
Bitka.
In 1835^ the British Govemmenty which had already begun to make
arrangements for the acquisition of California^ made objections to
these Bussian settlements on Mexican soil ; and, as the Mexican au-
thorities appeared to be unable or unwilling to molest them, called
upon the United States Govemment to require their removal, in com-
pliance with the stipulations of a treaty made between Bussia and the
United States in April, 1824 hj which Bussia was bound to prevent
its subjects forming settlements at any point south of latitude 50"^ 40\
It was in compliance with a request from the United States Govern-
ment, that the Bussians left California in 1841. They sold all their
real and personal property to General Sutter, taking payment in wheat
and meat, as required by the settlement at Sitka. Among the per-
sonal property thus acquired by Sutter, were 2000 cattle, 1000 horses^
60 mules, 2500 sheep, and a number of brass guns, one of which, now
preserved in the museum of the Pioneer Association of San Francisco^
rendered important service during the war for the conquest of Cali-
fomia.
^^^..^e first permanent settler in California^ of whom we have any
record, was, John Gilroy, a Scotchman, who was landed from an
English ship belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, which put into
Monterey for supplies, in 1814 Gilroy, at that time a youth ol
eighteen, was so sick with the scurvy that he was left ashore, to save
his life. It was six years after the ship that brought him had left,
before another entered the harbor of Monterey, except a pirate from
Buenos Ayres, which arrived in 1819, captured the fort, destroyed the
guns, plundered the inhabitants, and burnt the town. Gilroy, who is
still living at the thriving town which has sprung up within a few miles
of his homestead, in the beautiful Santa Clara valley, about thiriy
miles from San Jos^ says there were not half a dozen foreign settlers
in the whole country at that time, except the Bussians, at Bodega, and
only eight ranchos belonging to Mexican settlers, between San Fran-
cisco and Los Angeles. Monterey contained but six houses, besides
the presidio; San Jos^ contained about twenty. There was no foreign
trade, except once a year a Spanish vessel took a cargo of tallow to
Callao. Hides had not begun to be of any value, as the American
traders did not commence to buy them until about 1820. There was
not a flour mill in the country; the wheat intended for flour was ground
in rude stone mortars^ or metatea. There was not a vehicle, from San
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EABLY HISTORY. 39
Francisco to San Diego, that had wheels with spokes. All the lumber
required for anj purpose was hewn with axes by the Indian carpen-
ters— ^but, as nobody except the Governor or missionaries had wooden
floors or doors to their houses, nor chairs, nor tables, it did not
require much lumber to supply the demand. The missionaries owned
the whole country, and controlled all its inhabitants. The Indians
did all the work required, as blacksmiths, carpenters and weavers.
Potatoes were unknown ; a few cabbages and other vegetables were
cultivated, on some of the missions, as luxuries. The natives at the
missions lived entirely on boiled wheat, maize, and beef, seasoned with
Ohili peppers and sali Poor Gilroy, like so many other pioneer sett-
lers who owned miles of fertile land when California became a State in
the American Union, is now penniless, living in the same old adobe
house he built before an American citizen had set his foot in the terri-
tory. Improvidence, and want of experience in the ways of the money
lender, have ruined nearly all of the old settlers.
In 1818, Antonio M. Sunol, whose name is for ever connected with
a charming valley in the coast range, arrived at Monterey, and resided
in Califomia until March 18th, 1865, when he died, near San Jos^ at
the age of sixty-eighi This worthy old. pioneer, and his friend
(General Sutter, are fine specimens of the generous, refined and chival-
rous adventurers of a nearly extinct type,, whose histories show what
an active part such men play in the drama of life. Though bom at
Barcelona, in Spain, he was in the naval service of France, and was
present when Napoleon the Great surrendered as a prisoner, before
the hero's exile to Sb Helena.
In 1821, F. W. Macondray, the founder of one of the most exten-
sive and substantial mercantile firms on the Pacific Coast, arrived at
Monterey, from Chili, on board the ship Pmttker, and was so impressed
by the beauty and fertility of the country that, in 1850, he brought
out his family, and settled at San Francisco, where his sons are at
present^ among its wealthiest merchants.
In May, 1822, W. E. P. Hartnell, an Englishman — the first inspector
and translator of the Mexican archives, for the United States Govern-
ment— arrived at Monterey ; in August of the same year, W. A.
Bichardson, an Englishman, who became the first Harbor Master,
landed at San Francisco.
In May, 1823, J. B. R Cooper, a half-brother of Thos. O. Larkin,
arrived at Monterey, from Boston, (Mass.,) and soon after married a
sister of M. G. Vallejo, a prominent native Califomian of pure Cas-
tilian descent.
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40 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBNIA*
General Mariano GKiadelupe Vallejo, who took an active part In
placing California in possession of the Unite4 States, was bom at
Monterey, July 7th, 1808, and is the oldest living white settler in the
State. Having held several important offices under the Mexican Gov-
ernment, he was dissatisfied with its rulers, and became one of the
mpst active leaders of the native Galifopiian party which favored the
annexation of the country to the United States* Being one of the
best educated, of his class, and speaking English fluently, he was able
to render much service to the Government in the conquest and settle-
ment of the territory.
The following is an illustration of General Vallejo's services^ in
favor of annexation to the United States. In 1846, when the subject
of annexation to England was discussed before the Departmental
Assembly at Santa Barbara^ and Pio Pico, the Governor, after reviling
the United States and praising the monarchies of Europe, proposed to
unite with England, General Yallejo, in the course of his reply to the
Governor, said :
^ ^ ,^ "We are republicans ; badly goTemed and badly sitnated as we aro^ still we are all, in
,r^ ^ V ^ c^ sentiment, reptdblicana. So far as we are governed at all, we at least profess to be self-gor-
_ \[ « emed. Who, then that professes tnie patriotism will consent to sntject himself and chil-
dren to the caprices of a foreign king and his official minions? Hy opinion is, I will men-
tion it plainly and distinctly, annexation to the United States is onr only secority. Why
should we shrink from incorporating ourselves with the happiest and freest nation in the
world, destined soon to be the most wealthy and powerful ? When we join our fortunes with
hers, we shall not become subjects, but fellow-citizens, possessing ail the tights of the people
of the United States. Look not, therefore, with jealousy upon the hardy pioneers who scale
our mountains, and cultivate our unoccupied plains ] but rather welcome them as brothers
who come to share with us a common destiny. "
In a few months after this meeting, Calif omia was in. possession of
the United States.
About the time of the arrival of Mr. Cooper, quite a respectable
trade had sprung up for hides, tallow, grain, wine, and other products
of the missions. In 1822, an English firm at Lima^ (Peru,) established
a branch of their house at Monterey, which was the first mercantile
house opened on the coasi The annual exports, for several years,
had averaged 30,000 hides, 7000 quintels of tallow, 200 bales of furs,
and about 1,000 bushels of wheat, besides a few cargoes shipped to
Sitka^ from the Bussian settlements at Bodega.
In 1820, numerous hxmters and trappers from the west, while wan-
dering in search of the posts on the Columbia river, found their way
across the Sierra Nevada^ into California.
The valleys of the Tulare, San Joaquin, and Sacramento, in those
.s-^-
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EABLY HISm)OT. ^1
days aboonded with beaver, otter, and other animals, whose pelts were
highly prized by these trappers, who had become so numerous in 1821
and 1822, as to produce quite a revenue to the Mexican Government,
which charged them a license for the privilege of hunting. It was
from some of these California trappets whom General Sutter met in
New Mexico, in 1834^ that he first heard of the beauty of the valley of
the Sacramento, on which he settled in August, 1839.
Many of the oldest settlers in the State at present, or who have
died within the past year or two, came to California as trappers. The
American Biver takes its name from a company of western trappers
who lived on its banks for several years, between 1822 to 1830.
French Camp, or Castoria, as it used to be called, near Stockton, San
Joaquin Coxmty, was located by a company of trappers employed by
the Hudson Bay Company, who encamped there from 1829 till 1838.
In 1827, John Temple, a native of Beading, (Mass.,) arrived at San
Francisco, from the Sandwich Islands. The career of this gentleman
so forcibly illustrates the material of which the early pioneers of Cali-
fornia were composed, that we give an outline of his history. A mer-
chant at Los Angeles until 1848, he then commenced the business of
stock-raising, to meet the increasing demand for cattle, the extraordi-
nary accession to the population created. In a few years he became
the owner of many thousands of cattle and horses — such men never do
things by halves. He next tried his hand as a builder, and the City
Hall, Court House, and Temple Block, at Los Angeles, are monu-
ments of his labors in this line. He next leased a Government mint in
Mexico, and went into the coining business, in which he literally
•'made money." Like all the early settlers, Mr. Temple (in 1830)
married a California lady. He died at San Francisco, in Jxme,
1866.
In February, 1829, Alfred Bobinson arrived at Monterey, on board
the ship Brooldine, from Boston, as agent for the house of Bryant &
Sturgis. In 1836, this gentleman married the daughter of Jose de la
Guerra, at Santa Barbara, and returned to Boston in 1837. In 1849,
Mr. Bobinson came back to California, and settled at San Francisco, as
the first agent of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.
Abel Steames came to Monterey, from Mexico, in July, 1829, for
the purpose of locating a' grant of land he had received from the Mex-
ican Government. Failing in this colonization project, he went to Los
Angeles, where he has since resided and amassed a fortune.
J. J. Sparks, who died at Santa Barbara in June, 1867, came to
Califomia as a trapper in 1830.
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42 THE KATUHAL WEALTH OF GAUFOBNIA.
Geoi^e C. Yount, the first settler in Napa Valley, after wandering
as a trapper and hunter through the valleys of the Platte, Arkansas^
Green, Colorado, Mojave and Sacramento, in 1830 reached the beauti-
ful place where he settled and ended his days, surrounded by as much
refinement and social cultivation as if all his days had been spent in
what the world calls society. .His neighbor, Nathan Coombs, the
famous ranchero of that valley, did not arrive in California till 1843.
J. J. Warner, Esq., the well known viniculturist, and Federal Asses-
sor of Los Angeles, was a trapper on the Sacramento Biver in 1831.
Trapping for beaver and otter was carried on, on the Sacramento and
San Joaquin Bivers, until 1845. Captain Merritt had a large party of
trappers on the Sacramento in that year.
The name of one of these early trappers, Jedediah S. Smith, has
been mixed up with a number of stories of a very contradictory char-
acter, but each vouched for as correct by gentlemen deserving belief.
The late Edmund Bandolph, in a famous oration delivered before the
Pioneer Association of California^ credits Smith with being the first
white man who crossed the Sierra Nevada mountains.
"We have been at considerable trouble to unravel these various
stories, and have gathered the following particulars from those who
knew Smith personally, and shared his perils, and from documents in
the State archives.
The first of the trappers in the country west of the Boc^ Moun-
tains was W. H. Ashley, of Si Louis, who left the Missouri Biver in
1823, and is supposed to have reached the Sierra Nevada moimtains in
that year. In 1824 he discovered Salt Lake, and built a fort and sta-
tion there, between which and the Missouri Biver, loaded wagons
passed as early as 1828. In 1826, Ashley sold his interest to this
Jedediah S. Smith, Jackson, and Sublette, who formed the American
Fur Company.
In 1824 tl^ Company was organized at St Louis, (Mo.) It im-
mediately sent out several parties, to trap or hunt in the country west
of the Bocky Moimtains. In the spring of 1825, Smith, who was at
the head of this Company, with a party of forty trappers and Lidians,
left their rendezvous on the Green Biver, near the South Pass, and
pushed their way westward, crossing the Sierra Nevada into the Tulare
VaUey, which they reached in July, 1826. The party trapped for
beaver, and other animals, from the Tulare to the American fork of
the Sacramento, where there was already a camp of American trappers.
Smith established his camp near the site of the present town of
Folsom, about twenty-two miles north-east from the other party.
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£ABLT HI8T0BT. 48
From this camp Smith sent out parties, in several directions, which
-were so suceessfol that^ in October, leaving all the others in California^
in company with two of the party he returned to his rendezvous on
Green River, with several bales of skins. His partners were so pleased
at the success of the first expedition that in May, 1826, Smith was sent
back with a considerable re-inforcement On this trip, he led his
party further south than on the former one, which brought them into
the Mojave settimnents on the Colorado, where all the "pexty, except
Smitli and two companions named Galbraith and Turner, were killed
by the Indians. These three made their way to the mission of San
Gabriel, on the 26th of December, 1826, where they were arrested on
suspicion of being spies or filibusteros, and sent to the Presidio at San
Diego, where they were examined by General Echandia^ the com-
mandante of the territory. It was not until several Americans, who
were then at San Francisco, certified that Smith and his companions
were hunters and trappers, that they were permitted to purchase horses
and provisions, to proceed to the camp at Fokom.
The following is a verbatim copy of this curious certificate :
'* We, the undersigned, haTing been requested by Capt Jedediah S. Smith to state out
opinions regarding hie entering the Province of CiUifomia, do not hesitate to say that we
have no doubt bat U»at be was compeUed to, for want of provisions and water, having entered
so Cur into the barren country that lies between the latitudes of forty-two and forty-three
west that he found it impossible to return by the route he came, as his horses had most of
them perished for want of food and water; he was therefore under the necessity of pushing
forward to California— it being the nearest place where he could procure supplies to enable
him to return.
" We further state as our opinions, that the account given by him is circumstantially cor-
ieot» and that his sole object was the hunting and trapping of beaver, and other fars.
"We have also examined the passports produced by him irom the Superintendent of
Indian tJtaxn for the Oovemment of the United States of America, and do not hesitate to say
we believe them perfectly correct
'*We alao state that, in our opinion, his motives for wishing to pass, by a different route
to the Columbia Biver, on his return is solely because he feels convinced that he and his
companions run great risk of perishing if they return by the route they came.
"In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals, this 20th day of De*
€6Diber» XH3B,
" WILLIAM G. DANA, Captain of schooner Wdverly.
«« WILLIAM H. CUNNINGHAM, Captain of ship Courier.
'< WILLIAM HENDEBSON, Captain of brig Olive Branch,
" JAMES SCOTT,
'< THOMAS M. BOBBINS, Mate of schooner Waverly.
" THOMAS SHAW, Supercargo of ship Courier.*'
In the summer of 1827, Smith and all his party, (except Galbraith
and Turner, who settled in California,) left the Sacramento valley,
with the intention of reaching the settlements on the Columbia river.
They reached the mouth of the TJmpqua river, near Cape Arago^
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44 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
.•when the party were surprised by Indians, and iall killed, except Smith
and two Irishmen named Bichard Langhlin and Daniel Prior. These,
after terrible sufferings, reached Fort Vancouver, where they were
kindly received. Smith, soon after, returned to Si Louis, and his
companions went to Los Angeles, Califomia., where they resided for
several years. .
Another version of the story is, that Smith returned from Fort
Vancouver to the place where the party were killed, accompanied by ^
strong force of men in the service of the Hudson Bay Company, who,
meeting no Indians on the way, went with him as fax as the Sacra*
mento valley, where they estaiblished a camp near the jimction of the
American and Feather Bivers, which was, during the first season,
amder command of a Scotchman named McLeod. This was the first
{)arty of Hudson Bay trappers known to haye been in Califomia.
Thonvas Sprague, an old resident of Califomia^ in a letter to th^
Pon. Edmund Bandolph, dated ''Genoa, (Washoe,) Sept 18th, 1860,"
states that Smith w^ the chief trader in the employ of the America4
Fur Company, at its rendezvous on the Green Biver, in 1825 ; and in
that year was sent, with a party of trappers, to himt in the country
west of Salt Lake. It was during that trip that he discovered th^
Humboldt Biver, which he called the Mary, in compliment to his
Indian wife. This river is still known as the Mary, by the old himters
in Utah. It was always called by that name till Fremont changed
it in 1846. Traveling . west from .the Hun^boldt, he crossed the
Sierra Nevada^ at a point near the head of the Truckee river, and went
down the Sacramento Valley, and as far south as San Jos^ and San
Diego, and obtained horses and supplies to return. Coming back, he
crossed the Sierra Nevada mountains, by what is now known as
Walker's Pass, and discovered Mono Lake, between which and Salt
Lake he found placer gold, of which they took a considerable quantity
to the rendezvous of the company on Green Biver, or Sidskadee, one
of the head waters of the Colorado. This gold, and the large quantity
of furs brought by the party, so pleased the i^ent of the company, that
Smith was directed to return to the place where the gold was found,
and thoroughly prospect the country. Sprague states that it was on
this second trip that Smith wrote the letter to Father Duran, of the
San Gitbriel Mission, which Mr. Bandolph read at the celebration of
ihe Pioneers at San Francisco, in 1860, and which is still preserved.
The following is a copy of this letter :
"BEYEBiin) Fatheb : — I understand, through the medimn of one of yonr Christian
Indians, that you are anxious to know who we are — as some of the Indians have been at
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CABLT HI8T0BT. 45
Hi> ipjfimon lid informed yon that there irere pertain white people in the oonntry. We are
Americans* on onr journey to the Birer Colombia. We were in at the Mission Ban Qabriel*
in Jamiary last I went to Ban Diego and saw the General, and got a passport from him to
pass on to that place. I hare made seyeral efforts to pass the mountains, but the snows
being so deep, I could not succeed in getting orer. I returned to this place — it being the
only point to kill meat — ^to wait a few weeks until the snow melts, so that I can go on*.
Ihe Indians here also being friendly, I consider it the most safe point for me to remain until
such time as I can cross the mountains with my horses — having lost a great many in
attempting to cross ten or fifteen days since. I am a long ways from home, and am anxious
to get there as soon as the nature of the case will admit Our situation is quite unpleasant
—being destitute of clothing and most of the necessaries of life^ wild meat being our prin^
cipal subsistence. I am, Bererend Father, your strange but real friend, and Christian.
"May IDth, 1827. J. a BMITa"
Mr. Spragae says, the party reached the place where the gold waii
found, when, in a battle with the Indians, Smith, and nearly all his
party were killed. Qreenhow, in his "History of Oregon and Califor-
nia^'' says Smith was killed by the Indians northwest of Utah Lake, in
1829. Both Spragae and Greenhow were evidently misinformed on the
subject, as it is known by Mr. Smith's acquaintances, some of whoni
still live in California^ that ho returned to Sb Louis in 1830, where h^
sold out his interest in the fur company, and, in 1831, left Missouri^
Vith eleven wagons and mule teams, laden for Santa F^, and was killed
by Indians^ while on this journey, on the Cimeron river, near Toas.
In 1825, another company of trappers, under the command of James
O. Pattie, started from the Mississippi valley to reach the Pacific
6oast, overland. But, keeping too far to the south, they passed
through New Mexico into the valley of the Gila> where they were plun-
dered by the Yuma Indians, and escaped by means of rafts, which
barried them down that river to its junction with the Colorado. A
report of this expedition, published at Cincinnati, in 1832, under the
tiiJeof the "Hunters of Kentucky," was greatly instrumental in attract-
ing the attention of emigrants to this coasi The particulars of
Pattie's journey were published with President Jackson's message to
Congress, in 1836. The subject of emigration to the Pacific coast at
that time occupied much of the attention of Congress.
Walker, whose name is wedded to so many localities in the State —
and who still resides in it ; Pauline Weaver, the pioneer of Arizona;
fat Carson, Maxwell, and Bill Williams^ whose name is famous in the
regions of the Colorado River, were all men. of this class, several'of'
whom probably hunted in California before Smith.
Having devoted as much space to this subject as the object of our
work will permit, we must proce^ with our outline of the history of
the early settlers of CaUfomia.
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46 THE NATUBAI WEALTH OF bALIFOBNLL
The large quantities of tallow which werereceiviBcl at Gallao, knowii
to be the product of cattle killed expressly to procure it, attracted the
attention of John Begg & Co., an enterprising English firm at Lima^
Peru, who, in 1824^ entered into a contract with the Peruvian Govern-
ment^ to supply it with California salted beei^ for the use of its army
and navy. To cmrry out this object, Messrs. McCulloch & HartneU
established a packing house at Monterey, in the fall of 1824^ and im-
ported about twenty salters and coopers from Ireland and Scotland to
^ conduct the business. It was for this work that Mr. David Spence, a
well known citizen of Monterey, came to California from Lima, on the
29th of October, 1824 <^d has remained there ever since.
This pioneer packing establishment shipped several cfirgoes of meat
to Peru, which were pronounced of excellent quality, but the gov-
ernment of that coimtry, at that time, had no funds to pay for its sup-
plies, the contract was broken, and the business ended in 1825. At
first, the company used salt imported from Peru, but it was soon dis-
covered that California produced a much better article.
In September, 1828, Timothy Murphy arrived at Monterey, from
Lima, and was employed as a clerk by Messrs. McCulloch & HartnelL
In 1829, Jean Louis Yigiies, a native of Bordeaux, France, the
foxmder of the well known house of Sansevain & Co., the pioneer wine
makers, arrived at Monterey, from the Sandwich Islands, but removed
to Los Angeles in 1831, where he died in 1863, aged eighty-two years.
The missionaries in the southern coxmties had made both wine and
spirits for several years prior to the arrival of M. Vignes, but he was the
first to make these articles as a business, in California. In 1846, he
had the largest vineyard in the whole of Upper California. His nephew,
Don Luis Sansevain, who had been many years connected with M.
Yignes in the management of the business, has become famous for the
quality of the wine made from the pioneer vineyard.
"^ The subject of emigration from the States east of the Boc^ Moun-
tains to the territory on the Pacific Coast, had occupied the attention
of Congress for many years before California came into possession of
the United States. As far back as 1820, Mr. Floyd, who was then a
Representative from the State of Virginia, oflfered a bill *' favoring
emigration to the country west of the Bocky Mountains, not only from
the United States, but from China."
V The reports circtdated concerning the country had, as early as 1825,
induced quite a number of persons to find their way overland to the
Pacific coast, so that, before 1830, there were nearly five hundred
foreigners on the west side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. In 1831,
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EARLY HISTORY. 47
Los Angeles, then the largest town in the Territory, contained aboni
twelve hundred inhabitants, a large proportion of whom were foreigners. *
San Jose contained five hundred, and one half of these were foreigners.
There were also a few at Branciforte, a pueblo founded near the Mis- j
sion of Santa Cruz. These were all the towns in the Territory at that
time. The first house in San Francisco was not erected until 1835.
The foreign population did not increase much during the succeeding
ten years — as we find by M. De Mofras' reports to the French govern-
ment, written in 1841, that he estimated them at only one thousand,
divided among the following nationalities : Americans from the United
States, 360 ; English, Scotch and Irish, 300 ; Spaniards from Europe,
80 ; Germans, Italians, Portuguese and Sandwich Islanders, 90 ; Mexi-
cans, 170 ; and about 4,000 half-breeds. All the early settlers inter-
married with the natives. The number of children in some of these
mixed families was extraordinarily large. The wife of one prominent
American, at Monterey, had twenty-two; the wife of another had twenty-
eight; the wife of Mr. Hartnell, the United States translator, had twenty,
all alive when California came into possession of the United States.
Many of these half-breeds were of extraordinary size, some of them
being seven feet high, and stout in proportion, while the ladies, hun-
dreds of whom are still living, are fine specimens of humanity.
y^At this time (1841) the district and presidio of San Diego, em-
bracing the Pueblo of Los Angeles, contained 1,300 inhabitants ; that
of Monterey 1,000 ; Santa Barbara, 800 ; San Francisco, 800 ; and
about one thousand one hundred inhabitants were scattered throughout
the interior. De Mofras says, in his report, that there was a large
number of emigrants then on their way from the United States to Cali-
fornia. The papers published in many of the Atlantic States, between
1835 and 1840, show that companies were formed in most of them for
the purpose of aiding emigrants to reach the Pacific Coast The settle-
ment of this Territory was the most prominent subject before the peo-
ple of the United States at that time. So ntunerous were the emigrants
between 1832 and 1840, that the Mexican Government became alarmed,
and placed every impediment in the way of their settlement. It is a
notable fact, in this connection, that but few grants of land were made
to Americans outside the pueblos during the twenty-four years the
country was under Mexican control It was during this period that
many of the men whose names figure most conspicuously in the State,
made their appearance in California.
On the 10th of March, 1832, Thomas O. Larkin, who did more than 1
any other person towards annexing the country to the United States,
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48 THE NATCIUL T7EALTH OF GALIFOBNIA.
arriyed at San Francisco, and in company with his half-brother, J. B.
Jt. Cooper, who had arrived at Monterey in 1823, erected the first floor
mill in the Territory. In 1833, Mr. Tiarkin was married to Mrs. Bachel
Holmes, of Boston, (Mass.,) who was probably the first American lady
who came to California.
'^ In 1836, J. P. Leese, who had been in business at Monterey for
three years, came to Yerba Buena coVe, as the site of San Francisco
was then called, for the purpose of establishing a branch of his firm
there. After removing the suspicions of the MexiciEtn authorities,
he selected a spot for his house at the comer of Clay and Dupont
streets — the same lot on which the old Si Francis Hotel was after-
wards btiilt This was the first house erected in San Francisco.
W. A. Bichardson, who had been appointed Harbor Master in 1835,
had previously erected a shaniy, by nailing a^ ship's foresail over a few
redwood posts, a little to the north of Leese's house, between Clay and
Washington streets. It was at the completion of Leese's house, that
the stars and stripes were first hoisted on the soil of California^ to
celebrate the event In April, 1837, Leese mftrried a sister of General
Yallejo. Their daughter Bosalie, was the first child bom in San Fran-
cisco. The first child bom in the State, both of whose parents were
Americans, was Qxiadalupe Y. Botts, bom at Petaluma January 4th,
1846.
In 1833, Isaac Graham came from Tennessee, overland, and settled
at Santa Cruz; where, in 1841, he erected the first saw-mill in Cali-
fornia. In 1836, this Graham,, and Juan Bautista Alvarado, a native
Calif omian, who held a subordinate appointment under the Mexican
authorities at San Francisco, overthrew the Mexican Government and
declared California an independent State. Graham, with fifty Amer-
ican riflemen, and Alvarado with one hxmdred Califomians, captured
the Presidio of Monterey, with the Governor of the territory, and
nearly six hxmdred Mexican soldiers. This conduct of Graham
brought down the enmity of the Mexican Government upon all the
Americans ; and in May, 1840, about one hundred of them were
arrested, and either sent to. jail, at Santa Barbara, or transported out
of the country. Graham, who was sent to San Bias, was brought back
by the Mexican Government, and lived in Santa Cruz till November
8th, 1863, when he died, surroimded by an interesting family.
"\"0n the 2d of July, 1839, John A. Sutter, the most famous of all the
pioneers of California, landed at Yerba Buena, with ten Americans and.
Europeans, and eight Sandwich Islanders, with whose aid, in 1839,
he had built Sutter^s Fort^ near the site of the present city of Sacra-
/
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EABLY HISTOBY. 40
mento, which, within ten yefiurs after, became the Mecca towards which
pilgrims from all coxmtries, of all creeds and colors, bent their steps.
The life of General Sutter has been so replete with incidents, of
such an extraordinary character, that his history seems more like a
series of ingeniously contrived fictions, than a narrative of sober facts.
Bom in Germany, of Swiss parents, he became a captain in the grand
army of France, and mingled with the elite of French society during the
reign of Charles X,; bui^ prompted by an impulse which appears
N scarcely natural, in the very dawn of his manhood, when society has
most attractions, he longed for some secluded spot in the wilderness,
where he might build up an ideal world around him. It being impos-
Wv sible to find such a spot in Europe, with its false civilization, in (Which
hypocrisy and pretence are the ruling elements of success, he wends
his way to America, to find an untrodden field in its far western ter-
ritory. Arriving at New York in 1834 within a month he is on his
way to the much praised " Wide West," whose dense pine forests and
boundless prairies were distasteful to him. He next goes to the semi-
tropical region of New Mexico, whose parched, sand-covered plains,
treeless hills, and savage Indians, drove him almost to despair. It was
here, while pondering where next to go, that he met a party of wander-
ing trappers who had seen California. They described its charms so
vividly that he determined to find his way there. Proceeding to the
Socky Moxmtains, he joins a company of Wrappers boimd for the shores
of the Pacific Ocean, and, with them crosses the continent. But his
guides led him to the cold, humid, and cheerless region of Fort Yan^
couver, from whence it was impossible then to reach California by land.
Hearing that there was a trade between the Sandwich Islands and the
land he sought, he makes a voyage to Honolulu, in order to reach the
harbor of San Francisco. After many weary months of waiting, a
vessel is at last ready to sail for the American coast, but not for Cali-
fornia. It is bound for Sitka. Sutter takes passage, trusting to Provi-
dence, and by a remarkable accident, the ship is driven into San Fran-
cisco in distress, and he finds himself in California.
Here a new difficidty arose. Not a resident of the territory had
seen its interior, or could tell him how to reach the spot his trapper
friends had so vividly described. After weeks of search, on the 16th
of August, 1839, he finds the old beaver himter''s camp, near the junc-
• tion of the American and Sacramento rivers, which presented aU the
elements of the scene he had been wandering for five years to discover.
Here he landed, and in a few months had constructed Sutter's Fori^
made his home, and called it New Helvetia, in memory of the land of
4
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50 , !rHE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA.
his fathers. By kindness and liberality to the natives who swarmed
around him, he made them eultivate his lands^ herd his cattle, and
guard his property against the more fierce savages from the moimtains.
In this patriarchal style he lived for nearly ten years^ surrounded by
everything that could minister to his wants — ^numbering his cattle by
thousands, and owning the land for miles, until — ^to him fatal day —
one of his workmen found a few grains of gold in the soil, when, as if
by magic, the whole scene was changed, and from a veritable Utopia^
the beautiful Valley of the Sacramento became a Pandemonium. The
mighty power of gold was never before exhibited as it was then. With
a rapidiiy very remarkable, the news of the discovery reached the most
distant countries, and in a few months there was scarcely a nation that
did not have its representatives digging and washing for gold on Sutter's
farm, which embraced an area of sixty miles square. Mankind have cer-
tainly been benefitted by the discovery of gold in California — but not
so Sutter. That discovery involved him in ruin. It led to the destruc-
tion of his land, cattle, and laborers. From being the monarch of all
he surveyed in the broad VaUey of the Sacramento, it made him again
a wanderer, with no means of support in his old age except a donation
made by the State, which he had been so greatly instrumental in
founding. The life of what living man has been more strangely
eventful ?
Between 1840 and 1845, the fame of Galifomia as an a^cultural
country had become generally known to the people of the United States,
while its importance from a commercial and political point of view was
fully appreciated by the Federal Gk)vemmeni Mr. Larkin, who was
appointed United States Consul in 1844 tad for several years pre-
viously kept the government fully informed of the acts of the agents of
France and England, who were making arrangements for one or the
other of these nations to take possession of the country. Emigration
was encouraged by both France and England, as well as by the United
States. The number of settlers, in consequence, greatly increased.
It was during this period, in November, 1841, that John Bidwell
arrived from Missoxiri, overland, and entered the service of General
Sutter, but soon after located on the land he now owns, near Chico,
Butte coimty, about forty miles from Marysville. Mr. Bidwell is a
native of New York State, but emigrated to Missouri, where he was
engaged for several years as a school teacher, prior to his starting for
California. In company with Mr. Bidwell, overland, were Joseph
Childs, Grove Cook, Charles Hoppe, and several others^ who at present
reside in the State.
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s.
EABLY mSTOBT. 61
Ab an illustniion of the American element in the territory at this
time, we refer to aa event which ocoorred on the 19th of October,
1842. Commodore Jones, of the United States navy, having under
his command the sloop of war C^an^,- and frigate Untied StcUeft^ entered
the harbor of Monterey, captored the fort, hoisted the stars and stripes,
and declared California a territory of the United States, to the hearty
satisfaction of nearly all the inhabitants, a majority of whom were citi-
zens of the United States. The next day, for reasons we shall refer
to hereafter, Commodore Jones hauled down his colors and apolo-
gized to the Mexican authorities for his conduct. But the impression
Ins action left on the minds of the Mexican and British officers caused
them to increase their efforts to prevent the coimtry falling into the
hands of the United States, and created an intense feeling of hatred
on the part of some of the Mexicans, against the citizens of that
country.
As early as May, 1846, Pib Pico, the then Governor of the Terri-
tory, who was bitterly opposed to the Americans^ in a speech before
the Departmental Assembly in favor of annexing California to Eng-
land, remarked : "We find ourselves threatened by hordes of Yankee
emigrants^ who have already begun to flock into our country, and whose
progress we cannot arrest. Already have the wagons of that perfidi-
ous people scaled the almost inaccessible summits of the Sierra Ne-
vada^ crossed the entire continent, and penetrated the fruitful valley
of the Sacramenta What that astonishing people will next xmdertake,
I cannot say; but in whatever enterprise they embark, they will be
sure to be successfoL Already, these adventurous voyagers, spreading
themselves far and wide over a coimtry which seems to suit their tastes,
are cultivating farms^ establishing vineyards^ erecting mills^ sawing
up lumber, and doing a thousand other things which seem natural to
them."
\^ AVThe settlement of California and Oregon during this period, caused
a steady stream of emigrants to wend their way across the plains^
many of whom died from the tomahawk of the merciless savage, or
from gaunt starvation. It is estimated by those who lived on the great
line of this overland travel, that upwards of five thousand persons
crossed the plains between the years 1840 and 1846, for the purpose
of settling on the Pacific Coast. Several parties of these adventurous
emigrants are known to have perished, while the hardships endured
by all were of the severest nature.
The passage across the Sierra Nevada mountains in those days was
attended with fri^tful dangers. The sufferings endured by a party
^h
<ii t
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52 THE KATUBAL 1P7EALTH OF CALIFOBNLL
Tinder fhe command of Captain Donner, who were snow-bonnd near the
lake on the Truckee pass, which now bears his name, is one of the
most horrible tales of human endurance on record. The party con-
sisted of eighty i)ersons, thirty of whom were females, and several
children. Arriving at the foot of the Truckee pass at the end of Octo-
ber, 1846, they were overtaken by a severe snow storm, which ren-
dered it impossible for the cattle to travel A portion of the party
decided not to attempt to cross the mountains until spring. They built
themselves cabins, killed the cattle for food, and thought they could
hold out till the snow would meli The balance of the pariy, under
the direction of Mr. Donner, undertook to make the passage, but they
had advanced only a few miles when they encountered a series of snow
storms, such as are only witnessed in that elevated district. Their
cattle and wagons were buried and lost, and the whole party left with but
little food, and scarcely any shelter to pass a winter in that wild region.
After struggling along for six weeks in the hope of crossing the sum-
mit, it was found impossible for all to proceed. A party of eight men,
five women, and two Indians, equipped with extemporized snow shoes,
and supplied with all the provisions that could be spared, were dis-
patched to reach some settlement in California where assistance could
be obtained. In less than a week after leaving the camp, the provis-
ions of this party were exhausted, while the terrible condition of the
coxmtry prevented their travelling more than a mile or two each day.
On the seventh day, three of the party died from cold and hunger, and
a storm of snow buried the survivors so deeply that it took them thirty-
six hours, in their wretched condition, to extricate themselves, three
more of them perishing in the effort. The nine survivors having been
foxir days without food, the horrible suggestion presented itself of eat-
ing the dead bodies of their late companions. After eating the greater
portion of one body, the flesh of another was cut off and packed as a
supply for the future, and they started on their way once more. In a
few days this supply of flesh was consumed, and they were again con-
fronted by starvation, when they fortunately killed a deer, which sus-
tained them for a few days. When this was gone, they became so
exhausted from wandering through the loose, drifting snow that, almost
daily, death put an end to the sufferings of one, whose body furnished
food for the others. In less than a month from leaving camp, only five
remained alive ; of these, four were unable to proceed. One, with
almost superhuman resolution, managed to drag himself across the
summit, and reached a hunter's camp on the Bear Biver, where he was
kindly treated, and his four companions promptly secured from their
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£ABLY mgroBT. 63
perilons {>ositioii. Information of the condition of the party in the
mountains was sent to General Sntter, at his fort on the Sacramento,
nrho, at once dispatched a partj of men accustomed to mountain life,
with a number of mules laden with food and clothing, for their reliel
As it was oyer one hundred miles from the fort to the Truckee, and
&e travel over the mountains difficult and slow, it was the 19th of Feb-
maiy ere the party reached the nearest company of the sufferers.
When found, ten of them were beyond all human aid. Not being able
to bring along the whole of them, the relief party left a good supply
of provisions with the men, and brought away all of the women, and
most of the children. A second relief party reached the lake on the
1st of March, and started with the seventeen survivors left by the first
party, but a heavy fall of snow rendered it im{>ossible for the mules to
carry them. All the adults were, therefore, left in a sheltered place,
and only the children were taken to the fori A few days later another
party was sent after those who had been left on the road; when found,
three were dead — ^the survivors had kept themselves alive by eating the
bodies. The Donner party was not discovered until April, by a com-
pany sent to their relief by citizens of San Francisco. Mrs. Donner,
who is represented to have been a lady of refinement and great per-
sonal beauty, had been dead but a few hours when the party reached
their camp. Donner was one of the first who died. Twenty-two of
the females, and most of the children were saved ; twenty-six men, eight
women, and three children perished. The people of San Francisco
made liberal provision for the son and daughter of Donner, who were
rescued. A contribution was raised and the one hxmdred vara lot No.
Thiriy-nine, at the southeast comer of Folsom and Second streets was
purchased in their name. This lot, at the present time is probably
worth $50,000. These children are said to be still living in San Fran-
cisco.
One of the female survivors of this fearful tragedy was the first
white woman who settled at Marysville — ^that city being named, as a
compliment to her. She subsequently married Mr. Charles Covillaud,
one of the founders of Marysville, and resided there until September,
1867, when she died at the early age of thirty-six, leaving a number of
children, and greatly beloved by all who had the pleasure of her
acquaintance. Hiram O. Miller, another of the survivors, settled in
Santa Clara County, where he died in October, 1867.
A few years later, another party of emigrants perished in the moxm-
tains, further south, in what, in consequence of their fate, has since
been known as Death's valley.
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54 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
In 1845, the Mormons, haying been expelled from their settle-
ments in Illinois, and being informed of the adaptability of California
for settlement, and perhaps under the idea that inaccessibility would
save them from having many neighbors^ made arrangements for a gen-
eral emigration to the Pacific Coasi In the spring of 1845, a party of
nearly two thousand of these people left the Missouri river, for Cali- ^ ^ *
fomia. Another party, consisting of one hundred and thirty-six men, <,^
sixty women, and forty children, under the direction of Mr. Samuel V3 U
Brannan, left New York on the 4th of February, 1846, on board the
Brooklyn^ for San, Francisco, where they arrived July 31st, 1846, just
three weeks after Commodore Montgomery had taken possession of
the place, in the name of the United States. A company of them
went to San Bernardino, to form a settlement there; but Mormonism
never took root in California^ and, after lingering for a year or two,
the settlement was abandoned. Mr. Brannan, on discovering the
country in the possession of the United States^ sent messengers to
the Mormons coming to California overland, to inform them of the
condition of affidrs here. These messengers met Brigham Young
near Great Salt Lake, in Utah, where it was decided to remain, and
abandon California. By this fortunate circumstance, the State was
spared the evil of polygamy, which has grown so rankly on the soil of
Utah. Many of the party who came to San Francisco, concluded to
abandon Mormonism, and remain there. Mr. Brannan, after having
the honor of being the first person tried in the territory by a jury — on
a frivolous charge, of which he was acquitted — ^became one of the most
enterprising and useful citizens in the State.
>f^ Another valuable accession to the early settlers was made by the
arrival of Colonel Stevenson's regiment of California Volunteers, con-
sisting of nearly one thousand rank and file. In anticipation of move-
ments which were subsequently developed, in 1846, President Polk
authorized Colonel J. D. Stevenson to raise a company of Infantry
Volunteers, in New York, for the purpose of protecting the interests of
the United States on the Pacific Coasi The men comprising this
regiment were selected particularly with the object of their becoming
settlers in the country; many of them have become permanent and
honored citizens of the State. In its ranks, as privates, were sons of
senators and representatives in Congress, lawyers, doctors, editors^
printers, and representatives of nearly every trade, who were all per-
mitted to bring tools and materials for carrying on theiy respective
occupations — ^being in striking contrast to the soldiers sent here by the
Mexican Government, who were generally the worst convicts from the
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EARLY HISTORY. 65
jailsy and such reiractory, turbulent characters, as it was most desir-
able to get rid of.
The California regiment left New York on the 26th of October,
1846, on board the Thomas H. Perhim, Loo Choo, and Susan Drew.
The first division, under command of Colonel Stevenson, on board the
Thomas JGT. Perkins, arrived at San Francisco March 6th, 1847. The
regiment was mustered out of service in the summer of 1848. Nearly
three hundred of its members were alive, in California, in July, 1867.
Among its commissioned officers were Captain Folsom, Lieutenant
Harrison, and Captain Taylor, whose names are connected with streets
formed on land they acquired. Captains H. W. Naglee and J. B.
Frisbie, hold prominent positions in the history of the State. W. K
Shannon, the delegate from Sacramento to the State constitutional
convention, who was the leader of the ''free soil'' party in that con-
vention, was captain of Company I, of this regiment The volunteer
service of the United States has been honored by the exemplary con-
duct of the members of Colonel Stevenson's regiment
The following incident affords an illustration of the kind of mettle
these early California volunteers were made of. In the fall of 1846,
Major Gillespie's forces^ stationed at Los Angeles, were surrounded by
a large body of Califomians, under command of Andres Pico, and
there was no hope of relief unless assistance could be obtained from
Commodore Stockton, who was then on board the SavannaJi, at San
Francisco. John Brown, or Juan Flacco, (lean John) one of the little
band of beseiged Americans, imdertook to carry a despatch to the Com-
modore. The Mexicans suspected his errand, and in their efforts to
capture him shot his horse, but this did not stop him ; he ran twenty-
seven miles, to the nearest rancho, where he obtained another horse,
and arrived at Santa Barbara the second night after leaving Los An-
geles, having been pursued a great portion of the distance by bands of
Mexican lancers. By obtaining fresh horses from American settlers,
at whose ranchos he called on the way, Brown rode three hundred and
fifteen miles, within three days, to Monterey, and reached San Francisco,
from Monterey, one hundred and thiriy miles, between sunrise and
eight o'clock P. jl, of the same day. This noted rider died, in Stock-
ton, in 1863.
^ Mr. Larkin estimated there were two thousand citizens of the United
States in California before the close of 1846 ; about three thousand
foreigners who were friendly towards Americans ; and about three thou-
sand who were neutr^ or opposed to them. The number of British
and French had become so important that in May, 1845, Jas. A. Forbes
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56 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNU.
was appointed Consul for England, and Don Luis Gasquet, for
France.
In March, 1846, Col. John C. Fremont, on a special mission from
the general government, arrived at Monterey, in charge of a party of
sixty-two frontiersmen and guides. The results of the attempt on the
part of the Mexican authorities to drive this party out of the territory
are more directly connected with the early history of the State than
with that of the early settlers in the territory. We must, therefore,
refer the reader to **Tuthill's History of California," foy particulars.
On the 2d of December, 1846, General Kearny, and a force of
United States troops, arrived at San Diego, from St. Louis, overland.
Captain Cook, with a battalion of United States cavalry, volunteers,
arrived at San Diego in May, 1847, via New Mexico and Sonora.
This battalion was soon after disbanded, and the men settled in various
localities. Frederick G. E. Tittell, Esq., late Supervisor of the City
of San Francisco, and Colonel of the German Begiment, arrived as
fifer of this detachment.
January 23d, 1847, a portion of the Third Begiment U. S. Artillery,
one hundred and forty-four rank and file, arrived at Monterey, on
board the United States storeship Lexington. Lieutenant-General
W. T. Sherman, the hero of the march through Georgia, came with
these troops, as a lieutenant, and Major-General H. W. Halleck as
captain of engineers, attached, who was soon afterwards appointed
secretary of the territory by General Mason, then military governor.
Speaking the Spanish and French languages fluently. General Hal-
leek's knowledge and experience were of great importance in every
department of the new government. Traveling all over the country,
he soon acquired a knowledge of its resources and capabilities, unsur-
passed by any one in it. His services in defense of the Union, during
the late rebellion, are recorded in the history of the Republic. Since
his return to the State of his adoption, his labors have been incessant
in informing himself and the government of the resources and require-
ments of the Pacific coast There are few of the early settlers whose
services have been as important to the State, as those of Major-General
H. W. Halleck.
S-.It not being necessary to the purpose for which this book is in-
tended, to give further details concerning settlers, individually, who
arrived since 1846, we conclude this portion of the early history of
the territory by stating, that so extensive had become the overland
emigration, before the discovery of gold, that a majority of its white
population were American citizens, and their families. It is esti-
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EABLT mSTORT. 67
mated there were twelve thousand white persons in Califomia, in Jan-
nary, 1848, when that discovery was made.
General Mason, who visited the diggings at Coloma, in June, 1848,
in his report to the War Department on the subject, estimates there
were two thousand Americans and Europeans, and two thousand
Indians, at work there; and it is known that there were a great many
others washing and prospecting for gold at other localities, at that
time.
There are jnany facts connected with the acquisition of Califomia
by the United States, which will probably never be brought to light,
till some future Bancroft or Prescott shall be poring over the musty
archives of the nation, in search of circumstances to explain the events
of its past history. Few of such events will be more difficult of ex-
planation than the fact, that the discovery of gold at Coloma — the
event of the age — occurred on the 19th of January, and the treaty by
whieh the country was ceded to the United States, was signed on the
2d of March, 1848, neither of the contracting parties being aware of
the great discovery !
Equally difficult will it be to explain how it happened that the Pa-
cific Mail Steamship Company's vessels, the contract for running which,
made as early as 1846, required the first to be ready for service in
October, 1848, about the time when the news of the gold discovery ^i^K^f^mf^^
reached New Tor^^and emigrants were most anxious to get to Cali-,|^££^^' .ZL
fomia as quickly as possible ; for it is a remarkable coincidence that / ^A ^^^
the first vessel of that line, the Calif omioy arrived at San Francisco
with the first party of gold-seekers from the Atlantic States, on the
last of February, 1849, followed by the Oregon^ March 31st, and by the
Panama on the 4th of August
Many of the men who have figured most conspicuously in the sub-
sequent history of the State, arrived on board these three steamers, on
their first v6yage.
S-By the end of June, 1849, the discovery had become generally
known in Europe, Cliina> Australia, the Sandwich Islands, and Central
America; and vessels full of eager passengers were constantly arriving
from those countries. During that month, nearly two hundred square-
rigged vessels lay in the harbor of San Francisco, deserted by officers,
crews, and passengers, who had all gone to the mines.
The following is a correct list of the Governors of California, from
the date of its settlement by the Spaniards^ until it became a State in
the American Union :
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58 THE NATUEAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
CISDEB SPANISH BULB.
Gasper de Portala From 1767 to 1771
Felipe de Barn " 1771 to 1774
Felipe de Neve " 1774 to 1782
Pedro Faj^s " 1782 to 1790
Jos^ Antonio Bomea ** 1790 to 1792
Jos^ J. de Arrillaga. " 1792 to 1794
Diego de Borica «« 1794 to 1800
Jos^ J. de AiriUaga " 1800 to 1814
Jose Argaello «« 1814 to 1815
Pablo Vicente de Sola " 1815 to 1822
UNDEB MEXICAN BUIiB,
Pablo Vicente de Sola From. 1822 to 1823
LuisArguello «* 1823 to June, 1825
Jose Maria de Echeandia. ** June, 1825, to Jan'y 1831
Manuel Victoria. ** Jan'y 18S1, to Jan'y 1832
Pio Pico " Jan'y 1832, to Jan'y 1833
Jos^ Figueroa «* Jan'y 1833, to Aug. 1835
Jos^ Castro " Aug. 1835, to Jan'y 1836
Nicolas Gutierrez " Jan'y 1836, to April, 1886
Mariano Chico. ** April, 1836, to Aug. 1836
Nicolas Gutierrez " Aug. 1836, to Nov. 1836
Juan B. Alvarado *' Nov. 1836, to Dec 1842
Manuel Micheltorena ** Dec. 1842, to Feb. 1845
Pio Pico. " Feb. 1845, to July, 1846
AHEBICAN nSBBITOBIAIi OOYEBNICBNT.
The government of California^ after it came into possession of the
United States^ was vested in the commander of the national forces in
the country, for the time being. Commodore John D. Sloat, on taking
possession of Monterey, July 7th, 1846, issued a proclamation, as Gov-
ernor of the territory. The Federal and State courts recognize the date
of the issuance of this proclamation, as being the date on which the
United States obtained possession of the country. Commodore Sloat
acted as Governor until August 17th, 1846, when Commodore Robert F.
Stockton was proclaimed his successor, who appointed Colonel John
C. Fremont, in January, 1847. Fremont was afterwards tried by court-
martial, for accepting the office, which belonged to General Stephen
W. Kearny, by virtue of his being commander of the forces. General
Kearney proclaimed himself governor March 1st, 1847, and afterwards
appointed Colonel Eichard B. Mason on the 31st of May, 1847, who
held office until April 13th, 1849, when General Bennet Riley was
appointed military governor.
General Riley, aware that public sentiment was opposed to military
rule, on the 3d of June, 1849, issued a proclamation calling a conven-
tion, to meet at Monterey on the 1st of September, to frame a State
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EABLY mSTOBY. 59
constitntioiL This conyentioiiy consisted of forty-eight members,
assembled, pursnant to this proclamation, and organized on the 4th of
September, 1849, by electing Dr. Robert Semple president; W. G.
Marcy, secretary; Caleb Lyon (afterwards Governor of Idaho) and
J. G. Field, assistant secretaries ; W. E. P. Hartnell, interpreter, (to
translate the proceedings to the native Oalifomian delegates, who did
not understand the English language); and J. Boss Browne, the well-
known author, as official reporter.
A constitution was adopted and signed by the delegates, on the
13th of October, and submitted to the people for ratification on Nov-
ember, 13th, 1849, when 12,064 votes were polled in favor of its adop-
tion, 811 against it, and 1,200 were set aside for informality. Peter H.
Burnett was elected governor, under this constitution, in December,
1849. Bning roftdytn aiaumn the position of a State in the Union,
application for admission was made, in due form. After a long and
acrimonious struggle in Congress, between the advocates of slavery
and free soil, which lasted from December 22d, 1849, tmtil September
7th, 1850, California was admitted as a State on the 9th of September,
1850.
The following are the dates on which the several divisions of the
territory were taken possession of by the United States : Monterey,
July 7th, 1846 ; San Francisco, July 9th ; Sonoma^ July 10th ; and
Sutter's Fort, July 12th,
THE CX)MMEBC£ OF CALIFORNIA WHILE UNDEB THE SPANISH
AND MEXICAN BULE.
The commerce of California^ while under Spanish and Mexican
authority, when compared with what it has become since it has been
subject to the dominion of the United States, affords a striking illus-
tration of the predominating traits in the Anglo-Saxon and Spanish
characters.
The Spaniards and their descendants, had for three centuries been
in possession of the entire Pacific coast, from Valdavia, in latitude
40^ south, to the boundary of California, in latitude 42^ north, em-
bracing a line of more than five thousand miles of coast, indented with
a number of the finest harbors in the world, and bordering a country
capable of producing in abundance an almost endless list of articles,
for which both Europe and Asia afforded a market, including the most
extensive mines of gold and silver then known, with no scarcity of
materials or labor for ship-building, or any other purpose ; yet they
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60 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBXIA.
neverr established a vigorous commerce. Controlling the important
trade of the Western Islands, from 1568 to 1815, which obliged them
to send their richly laden galleons to the coast of California — a neces-
sity that, as early as 1565, led one of their navigators, Andres de Ur-
denata, to discover the northwest trade winds, which wafts a vessel
from Asia almost to the Golden Gate of California — though following
the track of these favoring winds for more than a century, they did not
increase their commerce. In the year 1835, there were not more than
thirty vessels belonging to all the states and nations of Spanish origin,
from Valdavia to Oregon.
Compare this with the career of the United States. Within a cen-
tury of their existence, they have created a commerce extending over
every land and sea> and perfected arrangements for its further exten-
sion, unexcelled by those of any other nation. Bailroads, steamships,
and telegraphs, as appliances of commerce, are more extensively em-
ployed by the Anglo-Saxon race in America^ than by any other nation ;
and in no portion of their dominion have these appliances been more
effectively employed than in California.
These remarks are not introduced in a spirit of self-laudation, or to
express any feeling of disrespect to our Spanish and Mexican fellow-
citizens or neighbors, but to account for the extraordinary expansion
of the commerce of California, and to explain the basis on which our
calculations of its future extension is founded. Within twenty years
after obtaining possession of the country by the Anglo-Saxons, this
commerce has been expanded from an annual cargo or two of hides and
tallow, exported to barter for a few thousand dollars' worth of coarse
manufactured goods, until the value of the exports of products and
manufactures — exclusive of the precious metals — exceeds $20,000,000,
annually, and the imports of merchandise amount to $60, 000, 000. From
a few scows, to transport the hides and tallow from the missions to San
Francisco or San Diego, the local marine has increased until there are
nearly 1,000 vessels, including 125 steamers, chiefly owned by the mer-
chants of San Francisco; and hundreds of the finest ships of the mer-
cantile marine of the United States are employed in the California
trade, which has also created lines of swift and capacious steamers,
connecting the State with China, Japan, Europe, the Atlantic States
and Australia, via the Isthmus of Panama; the Sandwich Islands,
British Columbia, Oregon, and Mexico.
These facts and figures prove that less than 500,000 of the Anglo-
Saxon race, possessing less than 700 miles of the Pacific coast-line,
within less than twenty years, have created a greater commerce than
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EARLY mSTORT. 61
did all the nations of Spanish origin, possessing 5000 miles of that
coast, in three hundred years. If such a commerce has been created
in so short a time, by so small a population, is it unreasonable to
anticipate an immense increase, when the enterprising artizans and
manufacturers of the Atlantic States and Europe, being informed of
the advantages California offers, as a field for their labor and skill,
shall make their homes here, and increase its products and manu-
factures?
Prior to the arrival of a few citizens of the United States, commerce
was unknown in California. The missionaries produced all they
required to supply the wants of themselves and their Indian neophytes,
and were too much opposed to the introduction of strangers to encour-
age any communication with the rest of the world.
Mr. Gilroy, who has resided in California since 1814, states that
for several years after his arrival, the whole trade and commerce of
the country consisted of the shipment of a cargo of tallow, once a year,
to Callao, in a Spanish vessel, which in return brought a few cotton
goods and miscellaneous articles for the missionaries.
In 1822, after Mexico had declared its independence of Spain,
there was a slight increase in the commerce of California. In that
year, an English firm at lima (Peru) established a branch of its busi-
ness at Monterey, for the purchase of hides and tallow; and vessels
from Chili, Peru, and Mexico, made occasional trips for a cargo of these
articles. American vessels, trading with the settlers on the Columbia
river, finding that the missionaries of California had something to sell,
visited San Francisco, Monterey, and San Diego, about this time.
Whale ships were quite numerous on the coast, as early as 1820, and
occasionally visited the California ports for fresh provisions and water,
and bartered for them. It was through the visits of these American
vessels that the value of California products became known to the
world.
Between 1822 and 1832, the exports from California had increased
from a single cargo until they were estimated at 30,000 hides, 7,000
quintals of tallow, 500 bales of furs, and 2,000 bushels of wheat annu-
ally. In 1834 this branch of trade was greatly increased by the mis-
sionaries killing immense numbers of their cattle, in anticipation of
the movement for secularizing the missions, which was already inau-
gurated by the Mexican Government. In this year, the Fathers
slaughtered upwards of 100,000 cattle, to obtain their hides and
tallow. At this time a new branch of trade was introduced by Thomas
0. T4^rls^i^^, and other Americans residing at Monterey. Vessels were
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62 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBKIA.
dispatched with cargoes of horses, cattle, grain, etc., to Honolulu.
The first animals of this class ever seen on the Islands, were taken
from Califomi»v on board the brig Ddia Byrd, and landed there in
June, 1803: they consisted of one horse and two mares. In the course
of a year or two, these exports were increased by shipments of lumber,
shingles, flour, potatoes, soap, etc. The Hudson Bay Company, also,
began to send to California for supplies of grain and provisions, for
its establishment on the Columbia, and the missionaries began to
produce wine, raisins, olives, etc., which found a ready market in
Mexico.
From 1825 to 1836, an important element in the trade of California
consisted of the skins of the sea otter, which were exceedingly abund-
ant on the coast from Mazatlan to San Francisco. But their reckless
slaughter by the hunters exterminated them before 1840. La Perouse
states that when he visited Monterey, in 1786, the agents of the Span-
ish Government, who then controlled this trade, were collecting the
skins. Twenty thousand otters were in the lisi The great* French
navigator thought they might have collected fifty thousand, the animals
were so very numerous.
As the export trade increased, the value and variety of the imports
began to increase also, and about the year 1830, they included clothings
furniture, agricultural implements, salt, candles, lumber, etc.
There was no trade with the interior of the coimtry tmtil about 1840.
The few inhabitants who resided beyond the boundaries of the mis-
sions had to produce all they required, or barter with the missionaries
for cloth, wine, etc. There was no circulating medium of any kind in
the country until 1824, when the "hide ships," introduced a few hun-
dred dollars worth of silver, which generally found its way into the
coffers of the missionaries. In 1832 there was but little money in cir-
culation, most of the trade being transacted by barter. As late as
1848, up to the discovery of gold, the currency of the country was
almost exclusively silver. When La Perouse visited the country, in
1798, beads were the circulating medium.
The trade of California steadily increased under the judicious cul-
tivation of the American residents. English, Chilian, and Mexican
merchants sent their ships here to compete for a share of this trade.
The following table of imports and exports, compiled by De Mofras, in
1841, show that the Bostonians, who at that time managed this trade,
obtained the largest share of it:
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£ABLY mSTOET. 63
Mports and EgporU of CiMSon^ in 184L
Kipfirt>» Imports.
United Stetes $70, 000 $150, 000
Mexican. 50, 000 65, 000
Engliah 20,000 45,000
Other oountries 10, 000 20, 000
Totals $150,000 $280,000
Included in these exports were hides valued at $210,000 ; tallow,
$55,000; peltries, lumber, etc., $15,000. About thirty vessels visited
California^ annually, in the conduct of this business.
From 1837 to 1841, the trade of San Fr^icisco was almost exclu-
sively in the hands of the Hudson Bay Company. In 1841, this com-
pany sold out its establishment and left the country. San Diego was
then the seat of the export and import trade, but San Francisco began
to take the lead in 1842. From 1841 to 1846, the commerce of Cali-
fornia greatly increased. The preparations made by the United States
Government to take possession of the territory caused an extensive
circulation of money. The arrival of large detachments of its naval
and military forces, and the great increase in the number of inhabi-
tants by immigration, both by sea and overland, created a consider-
able inland trade. The imports and exports were also materially
increased.
The following table of exports and imports, at San Francisco, dur-
ing October, November, and December, 1847, will convey an idea of
the course of the trade at that time :
Importa and Exports al San Frandtoo during (he lad Quarter of 1847.
Countries. Eiporta. Importa.
Atlantic States. $2,060 00 $6,790 54
Oregon 7,701 59
Mexica 6,391 60 160 00
Sandwich Islands 1,422 18 31,740 00
ChiU and Peru 21,448 35 3,676 44
Sitl-a 2,471 32
Bremen 550 54
Other countriec 19,275 50 499 10
Totals $49,597 53 $53,589 53
The discovery of gold on the 19th of January, 1848, so ihoroughly
revolutionized the commerce, and everything else in the country, that a
new era was inaugurated. As all the particulars of that event, and the
history of San Francisco, which became the metropolis of the Pacific
Coast in consequence of that discovery, are each given in a separate
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6i THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIPOBXIA.
chapter, the commerce of the country subsequent to that event will be
foimd in those chapters.
THE ACQUISITION OP CALIFORNIA BY THE UNITED STATES.
As there are many persons in California, as well as in the Atlantic
States and Europe, who labor under the impression that the acquisition
of this State was influenced by, or was in some manner connected with
the discovery of gold, the following synopsis of the policy pursued by
the United States Government in acquiring territory on the Pacific
Coast may be useful in removing such an erroneous impression, and in
proving that that grand discovery was the result of American enterprise
subsequent to the possession of the country by the Federal Govern-
ment.
We have already stated, when explaining the causes which led to the
establishment of the first settlement of Americans on the Pacific Coast,
that the importance of the fur trade of the northwest territory, as early
as 1784, induced Mr. Jefferson, while Minister to France, to employ
John Ledyard, to make an exploration of a portion of that territory,
with a view to its ultimate possession and settlement by the United
States — a purpose so well understood by the Bussian Government that
Ledyard was arrested and expelled from the country. This did not
prevent Mr. Jefferson and his friends from persisting in their efforts to
obtain their end. Through their influence, Mr. Astor, the great Amer-
ican fur merchant, was induced to fit out several vessels, ostensibly to
trade, but really to found a settlement on this coast. One of these
vessels discovered the Columbia Eiver, and another founded a trading
post on its banks, claiming the land by virtue of its discovery. This
claim was denied by both Russia and England, which were most anx-
ious to prevent an American settlement on this coast. This settlement
was the entrance of the wedge of American possession on this coast,
which has yet to be driven home. On the 30th of April, 1803, the
United States purchased the territory of Louisiana from France, which
gave it another foothold on the Pacific. It was stated in the title con-
veyed by this purchase that the western boundary of that territory was
the Pacific Ocean. Spain, England, and Russia, objected to such
boundary. Pending a settlement of the dispute which arose on this
point, Mr. Jefferson, who was then President, to carry out the object
for which he had employed Ledyard, nearly twenty years previously,
appointed Clark and Lewis, two famous explorers, whose names are
familiar to every reader of American history, and several other parties,
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EABLT mSTOBY. 65
to make a thorough exploration of the country, ''from the Missouri to
the Colorado, Oregon, and Columbia, to find the most direct and prac-
ticable communication across the continent^ for the purposes of com-
merce."
The expedition of Clark and Lewis left the Missouri on the 7th of
April, 1805, and reached the mouth of the Columbia^ on the Pacific,
on the 16th of the following November. The report of this expedition,
the remarks of Mr. Jefferson, and the action of Congress in relation
thereto, were accepted by England, Russia, France, and Spain, as a
notification that the United States intended to establish settlements in
the newly acquired territory on the Pacific, and caused considerable
opposition to be manifested by each of these nations. They all denied
the title of the United States to any portion of the Pacific Coast, reject-
ing the claim based on the Louisiana purchase, on the ground that
France did not possess any territory on that coasi^ consequently could
not convey any to any other power.
Li order to anticipate the proposed settlement by the United States,
England fitted out an expedition to take possession of the country, and
in 1808, founded a settlement near Frazer's Lake, a tributary of the
Columbia. This was the first settlement of the British west of the
Bocky Mountains. '
The Russians, equally anxious to prevent an American settlement
on the Columbia, sought to attain their ends by strategy. In 1808,
Count Romanzofl^ the Russian Minister of Foreign Affedrs, proposed to
John Quincy Adams, who was then Minister to that country, to give
American ships the privilege of supplying the Russian settlements on
the Pacific Coast with provisions and manufactured goods, and of trans-
porting the Russian American Fur Company's furs to China, (a most
valuable trade,) provided the United States government would recog-
nize Russia's asserted right to the Pacific Coast, south of the Columbia
river.
The United States rejected the proposition, and insisted on its title
to the territory south of that river, by both discovery and purchase.
Li 1811, the settlement of Astoria was founded, under the most favor-
able auspices, and was progressing equal to the expectations of its pro-
jectors, until the commencement of the war between the United States
and England, in 1812, when the destruction of that settlement appears
to have been sought with extraordinary zeaL It was captured by the
English on the 13th of October, 1813. After the conclusion of the war,
strenuous efforts were made by England to retain Astoria. The dis-
pute for its possession was not settled for nearly twenty-five year^—
5
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66 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
the Federal Government, never relaxing its hold of the territory thna
fairly acquired, and necessary for the extension of American interests
on the Pacific Coast So important had this place and Oregon, which
sprang from it, become, in 1845, that it was for the purpose of making
communication between them and Panama that the Pacific Mail Steam-
ship Company was projected.
In 1818, Don Luis de Onis, the Spanish Minister, prompted by the
French Government, set up a claim to the territory on the Pacific Coast
purchased by the United States from France. After many delays and
much diplomacy, this claim was settled by the Florida treaty of Febru-
ary 22, 1819, by which Spain ceded to the United States all the terri-
tory west of the Eiver Sabine, and south of the upper parts of the Bed
and Arkansas rivers, from a line drawn from the source of the Arkan-
sas, on the forty-second parallel of latitude, to the Pacific Coasi
In 1823, President Monroe, in a message to Congress, explained to
the world what the policy of the United States on the Pacific Coast
would be thereafter, in reference to colonization, in his memorable
assertion of the Monroe doctrine, ''that the American continents^
by the free and independent condition they have assumed and main-
tained, are henceforth not to be considered subjects for colonization by
any European power." This declaration caused the crowned heads of
Europe to protest against a doctrine — ^the recent disaster to France by
the overthrow of Maximilian, the purchase and conquest of California
from Mexico, and the peaceful acquisition of the Eussian possessions
on this coast prove — that the people of the United States intend to
maintain, peaceably if they can, forcibly if they must.
As an illustration of how strongly impressed were the intelligent
minds of the nation in favor of this doctadne, and with the belief that
the Pacific Coast would, at no distant day, form the western boundary
of the Union, many years before the acquisition of California^ we refer
to an oration delivered November 3d, 1835, when the first spadeful of
earth was dug towards constructing the New York and Erie railroad.
The event was one of great ceremony and much national importance.
The orator, on that occasion, in the course of his remarks, stated 'Hhat
some of his hearers would live to see a continuous line of railroads
from the bay of New York to the shores of the Pacific." Who then
thought so bold an assertion would so soon be realized ? This saga-
cious speaker merely gave expression to the policy of the United States,
which has been but partially carried out
The enunciation of the Monroe doctrine caused France and England,
who were deeply interested in the Pacific coast to use every means to
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EARLY mSTOBY. 67
prevent any extension of the United States territory there. In 1841,
Marshal Soult, Minister of War under Louis Phillipe, appointed M.
Daflot de Mofras, an eminent French savant and diplomat, to make a
thorough exploration of California, and to prepare the way for France
to acquire possession of the country. It is known that secret agents of
that government resided in California from the time of M. De Mofras'
visit, until it fell into the hands of the United States. The Federal
government, aware of the purposes of France, dispatched Commodore
TVilkes, with a squadron, consisting of five vessels of war, which
remained at San Francisco for several months, on a precisely similar
expedition, during which time that officer thoroughly surveyed the bay
of San Francisco, and the Sacramento Biver, as far as Sutter's Fori
England, suspecting the designs of both, also dispatched a naval squad-
ron for the same purpose. It must have been an interesting sight to
the few residents of San Francisco at that time, to have seen the ships
of three such powerful nations riding at anchor in their bay. Had
they known that they were all there for a similar object, the interest of
their visit would probably have been much enhanced.
M. de Mofras, in page 68, vol. ii, of his report states that he was
satisfied, from information he gathered on board the English and United
States vessels, that both parties expected to obtain possession of the
country; while his own book was written to instruct the French officers
how best to accomplish the same object
The foregoing facts are deemed sufficient to prove that the United
States, for nearly half a century prior to the acquisition of CaUfomia,
or the discovery of gold, had been unremitting in their efibrts to extend
their dominion on the Pacific Coast. The territory they now own
proves that these efforts have been crowned with signal success, despite
the opposition of France, England, Spain, and Bussia. From the
small settlement on the Columbia^ in 1810, when the wedge of posses-
sion was entered, the' national boundaries on the Pacific Coast have
been expanded, until they embrace California, containing 158, 987 square
miles; Oregon, 95,248 square miles; Washington, 69,994 square miles;
Nevada, 108,000 square miles; Arizona, 118,000 square miles; New
Mexico, 121,201 square miles; Utah, 88,000 square miles; Colorado,
104500 square miles; Idaho, 106,000 square miles; Montana, 145,000
square miles; and Alaska, 570,000 square miles; a total of 1,683,930
square miles — a territory nearly twice as large &s all the kingdoms of
Europe (except Bussia) combined. The States and territories along
the coast alone (including Alaska) comprise an area of 894,229 square
miles, which is larger than all the New England, Middle, and Western
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68 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
States, and nearly eqnal to France, Great Britain, Germany, Prussia,
and Austria, combined. These nations contain nearly one hundred
and sixty millions of inhabitants, and the whole Pacific States and
Territories have less than one million, while there is no country richer
in natural wealth than a \sLrge portion of the Pacific Coast.
The condition of California^ for many years before its conquest and
purchase by the United States, was such as to offer inducements for its
seizure by any power having real or fancied grievances against the
Mexican govemmeni Its great agricultural capabilities, and the im-
portance of its geographical position for political and commercial pur-
poses, were as well understood by France and England as they were
by the United States, and each of these powers were plotting for its
possession.
The tenure by which Mexico held dominion over the territory thus
coveted by the three greatest nations, was the most fraiL The ma-
joriiy of the more intelligent native Califomians, were not in sympathy
with their rulers. There was no trade, and but infrequent and irre-
gular communication between the two countries, which also differed in
soil, climate, and productions. The policy followed by Mexico, for
many years, of sending its convicts and outlaws to California, to save
the cost of keeping them in the jails, was not calculated to engender
either respect or confidence. The influx of Americans, the energy,
enterprise and prosperity they introduced, and the interest the United
States Government exhibited in behalf of its citizens on all occasions,
under such circumstances, were well adapted to impress the Calif or-*
nians in favor of the United States, and to induce them to desire to
attach their country to such a power. The secret agents of France
and England had not failed to observe this feeling among the inhabit-
ants, and had informed their Governments of its probable effects.
The Federal Government, aware of all the plans of both France and
England for the acquisition of the territory, and knowing that the only
effective means to prevent one or the other accomplishing that object
was to obtain possession itself — endeavored to purchase the territory
from Mexico. As early as 1835, President Jackson proposed to purchase
that portion of it *' lying east and north of lines drawn from the Gulf
of Mexico, along the eastern branch of the Eio Bravo del Norte, up to
the 37th parallel of north latitude, and along that parallel to the Pacific
Ocean." This purchase would have been effected, but for the interfer-
ence of the British Government
In 1845, John Slidell was appointed minister to Mexico, with special
instructions relating to the purchase of Galifomia^ which would have
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EABLY mSTOBT. 69
been accomplished but for British interference. After these repeated
&ilnres to obtain possession bj purchase, and having full knowledge of
the plans of England to obtain the prize, the struggle for masterj
between the Federal Gk>Temment and England became close and inter-
esting. The Califomians, prompted by the American residents in the
territory, in 1846, declared themselves independent of Mexico. The
majoiiiy of these were strongly in favor of annexation to the United
States; but the influence of Mr. Forbes, the British consul, had raised
a dangerous opposition, at the head of which stood Governor Pico,
Qeneral Castro, and several other prominent natives. Fortunately,
the well matured plans of the Federal Government settled the question.
Fremont, on his arrival here, on an exploring expedition, was met by
Lieutenant Gillespie with oral instructions to take possession of the
country, and keep it until reinforcements on the way could reach him.
These reinforcements came in the very nick of time, and the conquest
was accomplished.
To show how close was the contest between the United States and
England, it may be stated that within twenty-four hours after Commo-
dore Sloat had taken possession of Monterey, the English admiral, Sir
QeoTge Seymour, arrived there on board the CoUingwood. The blunt
old sailor good-naturedly informed Sloat that he had come to take pos-
session of the country, in the name of his government.
Mr. Colton, chaplain in the U. S. navy, who was acting as alcalde
at Monterey at this time, states that there was an excited meeting at
that place, on the 9th of July, two days after the capture of the town
by Commodore Sloat, for the purpose of calling on the British admiral,
who was then in the port, for protection, and placing the territory
under that flag.
In April, 1846, Mr. Forbes, the British consul, had completed
arrangements with Governor Pico and General Castro, for placing
California in possession of England, on the condition that England
would assume the debt of $50,000,000, due by Mexico to British sub-
jects. To retain possession, England was to send out a colony of
Irishmen, under the direction of a catholic priest named Macnamara,
who was an agent of that government. The deeds for three thousand
square leagues of land in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys,
made in favor of this Macnamara^ very fortunately fell into the hands
of the Federal Government, before they were signed by Governor
Pico, or there might have been a tremendous claim for compensation,
by this individual. To show how thoroughly informed the Federal
Government were of this design, we quote the following instructions
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70 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
from Secretary Bancroft to Commodore Sloat, under date of Jtdj 12th,
1846, only two months after Forbes' contract had been signed :
'*The object of the United States has reference to ultimate peace with Mexico; and if
at that peace the basis of the uti possidiiis shall be established, the government expects^
through your forces, to be fonnd in actual possession of Upper California. • • •
After you shall have secured Upper California, if your force is sufficient, you will take pos-
session and keep the harbors in the Qulf of CaUfomia, as far down, at least, as Guaymaa.
But this is not to interfere with the permanent occupation of Upper California. "
This document clearly establishes the fact, that the acquisition of
California was determined upon by the Federal Government, nearly
two years before the discovery of gold, and was rendered imperative by
the intrigues of the English Government, to prevent the United States
extending their influence on the Pacific coast.
Those who desire further information concerning the early history
of Califomia and the Pacific Coast, will find much interesting data in
the voyages of Drake, La Perouse, Vancouver, Beechey, and Perry ;
in the writings of Fathers Venegas and Palou, and in the works of
Forbes, De Mofras, Greenhow, and Tuthill.
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CHAPTER 11.
GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY.
Oatiine of Geography— The HaifoorH of Califomia— San Francisco Bay—Tidal Influences-
San Diego Harbor — San Pedro Bay — The Santa Barbara Channel — San Lois Obispo
Bay— Monterey Bay— Santa Cruz Harbor— Half Moon Bay— Drake's Bay— Tomales
Bay — Bodega Bay— Humboldt Bay— Trinidad Bay — Crescent City Harbor— Improve-
ments to be Made — ^Islands on the Coast
Califomia is an extremely rugged country, a large portion of its
surface being covered with hills and mountains. As much of its terri-
tory remains unsurveyed, and has been but partially explored, the
details of its geography and topography are unavoidably incomplete.
But sufficient is known of both to enable us to describe its general
outline, as well as many of its most conspicuous and interesting fea-
tures.
In outline California forms an irregular parallelogram, its length
averaging about seven hundred miles, extending southeast by north-
west, from latitude 32^45' to latitude 42^, with an average breadth of
nearly two hundred miles. It contains 158,687 square miles, or more
than 100,000,000 statute acres, of which 35,000,000 acres are adapted
for agricultural purposes; 23,000,000 acres for grazing; 5,000,000 acres
are swamp aud overflowed lands, which may be reclaitned. The lakes,
rivers, bays, and other surface covered with permanent water, amount
to nearly 4000,000 acres; about 10,000,000 acres consist of arid plains
and deserts, the btJance, 23,000,000 acres being covered with rugged,
and for the most part heavily timbered mountains.
Its mountains, which comprise the predominating geographical and
topographical features, for the convenience of description, may be
classed under two grand divisions : the Sierra Nevada ranges, which
traverse the State along its eastern border, and the Coast Eange, which,
as its name implies, extends along its western border near the sea
coast These divisions, uniting on the south, near Fort Tejon, latitude
35^, and on the nortli, near Shasta City, latitude 40^35', enclose the
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72 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CAUFORKIA.
valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, which are nearly three hun-
dred and fifty miles in length, and from forty to eighty miles wide at
the points of their greatest divergence.
Each of these divisions embraces many separate groups of mountain
chains of vast extent^ differing in geological relations and mineral
composition, presenting in many places scenes of rare beauty, or
rugged wildness not surpassed by any mountains in the world ; for
here, the mighty forces of the volcano and earthquake, of the crushing,
slow-moving, ponderous glacier, and of the swift-destroying flood, have
each left evidence of their power.
When we state that the Coast Bange and Sierra Nevada moun-
tains, after separating as above mentioned, diverge from both points
of contact with a tolerably even curve, until the divergence reaches its
greatest limit, the reader may form some idea of the shape of the mag-
nificent valleys they enclose, which contain nearly five eighths of all
the level land in the State. It is this peculiarity of their form which
renders a great portion of them subject to overflow during rainy seasons.
The whole of the water which flows from nearly five hundred miles of
the Sierra Nevada ranges, and from the eastern slope of the coast
mountains, must find its way to the ocean through these valleys — ^the
Sacramento flowing from the north, the San Joaquin from the south —
giving names to the portions through which they pass, bring the accu-
mulated waters to the head of Suisun Bay, where they unite. The
only outlet for this bay, the Straits of Carquinez — a narrow channel,
several miles in length and less than a mile in width — ^being too small
for the passage of the waters as rapidly as they accumulate from such
an extent of mountainous country, during extraordinarily wet seasons,
they rise, and as the greater portion of the land of the valleys is but a
few feet above the ordinary water level, they are speedily submerged,
except where protected by levees.
It is much more difficult to convey an idea of the form and extent
of the mountains within the State, by a mere description, than it is of
its great valleys. Their stupendous proportions and complex struc-
ture are so entirely unparalleled that there are few points of comparison
between them and other mountains to which we can refer the reader
to assist in illustrating our description* The Sierra Nevada, or snowy
mountains, which bound the Sacramento valley on the east, include a
series of ranges, which, collectively, are seventy miles wide. The gen-
eral name for the group is derived from the snow which is rarely absent
from the higher peaks in the range.
^e Coast Bange, which bounds it on the west, also consists of
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OEOGBAPHT AND TOPOGBAFHT. 73
a series of chains a^r^ating forty miles miles in width, bordering the
State from its northern to its southern boundary. There is a most
remarkable difference in the structure and conformation of the two
series. The Sierra Nevada ranges may be traced in consecutive order
for an immense distance. The whole country, for nearly five hundred
miles in length, and nearly one hundred miles in width — their extent
within the limits of the State — being subordinate in configuration to
two lines of colminating crests, which impart a peculiar character to its
topography, while in the Coast Bange all is confusion and disorder.
Each mountain in the whole series appears to be the product of causes
singularly local in their effects — the mineral composition of many
high mountains, in close proximity to each other, being very different.
There are peaks in this range which reach from fifteen hundred to eight
thousand feet above the sea level, but there is no connection in the
direction of such culminating peaks.
If we compare this peculiarly local structure of the Coast Bange
with the remarkable continuity in the direction of the Sierra Nevada
ranges, we may comprehend some of the peculiarities which form the
most interesting features in the two series of California mountains — ^its
Alps and Appalachians. The highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada, from
Mount Shasta on the north, including Lassen's Butte, Spanish Peak,
Pilot Peak, the Downieville Buttes» Pyramid Peak, Castle Peak, Mounts
Dana, Lyell, Brewer, Tyndall, Whitney, and several others not yet
named, which reach from 10,000 to 15,000 feet above the level of the
sea, are nearly all in a line running N. 31^ W. On the eastern side of
this culminating line of peaks is situated a series of lakes, the principal
of which are the Klamath, Pyramid, Mono, and Owens', lying wholly
to the east of the Sierra, and Tahoe, occupying an elevated valley at a
point where the range separates into two summits. The confluence of
the Gila and Colorado rivers forms the southern limit of the depres-
sion in which these lakes are located. A somewhat similar depression
exists on the western slope of this ridge of high peaks, which is also
about fifty miles wide, and terminated by another series of peaks,
remarkably continuous in their direction, and also containing a series
of lakes. This remarkable continuity in the main features of the topo-
graphy of so lai^e a portion of the State, has induced geographers to
divide it into four sections, which differ from each other in soil, climate,
and productions. That section which lies to the east of the range of
culminating peaks, is generally termed the "Eastern Slope." The
depression on the west of this range, and the subordinate range of
peaks which bound this depression on the west, is considered as the
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74 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
Sierra proper. The depression between the foot hills of this subordi-
nate range and the Coast Range, is called the California valley — ^the
Coast Bange forming a separate section. The State is further divided,
geographically, by a line drawn from west to east, in the locality of Fort
Tejon ; all south of such line is considered southern California; all the
territory north of another line, intersecting Trinity, Humboldt, Teha-
ma, and Plumas coimties, being considered as northern California ; the
country between these two lines being central California. This central
division contains seven eighths of the population and wealth of the
State.
From Point Concepcion, in latitude 34^20', to Cape Mendocino, in
latitude 4(P20\ the mountains of the Coast Bange present a rocky bar-
rier, with numerous projecting headlands, against which the waves of
the Pacific Ocean break with great fury during the prevalence of east-
erly or westerly gales. Between these two points, and sheltered by
these projecting headlands, the mariner finds the best harbors along
the coasi Coming from the north, and sailing south, he meets with
Bodega bay, in Sonoma couniy; Tomales, and Drake's bay, in Marin
county; San Francisco bay; Half Moon bay, in San Mateo county;
Santa Cruz bay, Santa Cruz county; Monterey, and Carmel bays, in
Monterey county; Estero, and San Luis bays, in San Luis Obispo
county. North of Cape Mendocino is Hiunboldt bay, in Humboldt
county; Trinidad bay, in Klamath county; Light and Pelican bays,
in Del Norte county. South of Point Concepcion there are sandy
plains, tweniy to forty miles wide, between the mountains and the sea.
Along these flat shores are the harbors of Santa Barbara, in Santa Bar-
bara county; Wilmington and Anaheim Landing, in Los Angeles
county; San Luis Bey, and San Diego, in San Diego county.
It will be perceived by this list of harbors along the coast of Cali-
fomia, that it possesses great facilities for carrying on an extensive
coasting trade. In addition to the harbors above named there are sev-
eral estuaries and rivers indenting the coast, which afford convenient
anchorage for vessels to load lumber, grain, firewood, and other pro-
ducts of the coast range.
Those portions of this range which skirt the coast in Marin, Sono-
ma^ and Mendocino counties, between latitude 38^ and 4fP, are toler-
ably well timbered; but south of Bodega bay, and north of Mendocino
county, except about Monterey bay and Santa Cruz, the coast line
presents a bleak and sterile appearance. All the valleys in the range,
which are open to the coast, are narrow and trend nearly east and
west. The Salinas, the most extensive of these coast valleys, is nearly
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geoghaphy and topography. 75
ninety miles in length by eight to fourteen miles in width, a large
portion of which is adapted to agricultural purposes — ^being exceed-
ingly fer ile, producing abimdance of wild oats and clover, where not
under cultivation. The Bussian river valley, which also opens to the
sea, is also very fertile. Further inland, sheltered from the cool
sea breezes by the outer range of moimtains, are many tolerably broad
and very beautiful valleys, which produce the finest grain, fruit, and
vegetables raised on this part of the coast.
Among these inland valleys of the Coast Bange are Sonoma^ Napa,
and Petaluma, having navigable rivers connecting them with the
bay of San Francisco; Berreyesa, Suisun, Vaca^ Clear Lake (the Switz-
erland of Califomia), Amador, San Bamon, Santa Clara^ Pajaro, and
many others, which will be referred to more particularly when describ-
ing the topography of the counties in which they are located.
The outer coast valleys are generally separated by steep, barren
ridges, while those inland are divided by gently sloping hills, some-
what similar to the rolling prairie lands of Illinois, and are susceptible
of cidtivation over their entire surface. AU the coast valleys are toler-
rably well watered.
The most familiar and thoroughly explored division of the coast
mountains, is the Monte Diablo range, which covers a territory about
one hundred and fifty miles long and from tweniy to thirty miles wide.
This division possesses much importance, from its containing the only
coal-mines in the State now profitably worked. It is bounded on the
south by Los Gatos creek, on the east by the valley of the San Joa-
quin, on the west hf the bay of San Francisco and the Santa Clara
valley, and on the north by the straits of Carquinez and San Pablo
bay. The portion of this range which forms so picturesque a back-
ground to the landscape, as seen from San Francisco, across the bay,
are the Contra Costa hills. These hills being in front of Monte
Diablo, from that point of view, only its crest is seen above them; but
it forms a conspicuous object in the scene from all other points, and is
one of the best known landmarks in the State, although it is not so
high as many other mountains in the Coast Bange. Mount San Ber-
nardino, in San Bernardino county, is 8500 feet high ; Mount Hamil-
ton, 4440 feet ; Mount Bipley, in Lake county, 7500 feet ; San Carlos
peak, in Fresno county, 4977 feet; Mount Downey, in Los Angeles
county, 5675 feet ; Monte Diablo being 3881 feet. There are nearly
twenty imnamed peaks along the coasts reaching from 4000 to 5000
feet in height.
Owing to the peculiarly isolated position of- Monte Diablo—^tand-
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76 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CAUPORNIA,
ing aloof, as it does, from the throng of peaks that rise from the Coast
Bange, like a patrician separated from plebeians, the beautj of its out-
line commands the attention of the traveler by land or sea — ^makes it a
landmark not possible to mistake, and causes its summit to be a center
from whence may be viewed a wider range of country than can be seen
from almost any other point in the State. On the north, east and south-
east, maybe seen a lai^e portion of the great valleys of the Sacramento
and San Joaquin, with many thriving towns and villages, environed with
gardens and farms, while sweeps and slopes of verdure mark the distant
plains with hues inimitable by art. In the extreme distance, as a bor-
der to this grand panorama, rising range above range, is seen the
Sierra Nevada mountains, stretching along the horizon upwards of
three hundred miles. In an opposite direction the beautiful valleys of
the Coast Bange come into view, with all the charming features of
prosperous and skilled rural industry, and the broad bay of San Fran-
cisco, where are riding at anchor a fleet of ships, from the masts of
which the ensigns of nearly all nations may be seen fluttering ; while
beyond, extending from the water-line to the very summit of the high-
est hills, is San Francisco city, the home of nearly one fourth of the
population of the State. To the right is seen the forts and earth-
works that guard the Golden Gate» while beyond, as far as the eye
can reach, is the Pacific ocean, bearing on its bosom numberless ves-
sels, passing to or fro on the peaceful mission of commerce.
The aborigines called this great landmark of California^ Kah Woo
Koom — ^the mighty mountain. The Spaniards called it Sierra de los
Gorgones, either of which is preferable to its present name, which
really does not belong to it, but to a small hill seven miles to the north,
to which the name was applied from the following incident : About
the year 1814, a party of Spanish soldiers were sent from the presidio
of San Francisco to chastise the tribe of Indians who roamed through
this portion of the Coast Bange. In a fight that took place, three of
the Spaniards were killed, the others "retired in good order" to the
little hill, as a place where they could defend themselves against the
swarm of Indians. At night, the sentry, half asleep at his post, fan-*
cied he saw a spectral figure, of colossal proportions, flying through
the air towards the hill where his comrades lay sleeping. Terrified
by the apparition, he cried out, '*E1 Diablo I El Diablo !" The
Spaniards, being more afraid of the devil than they were of the In-
dians, fled from the spot, which was thereafter known as Monte
Diablo. As there was a good spring of water in the vicinity, it was
often resorted to by hunters, who, in describing it to their friends.
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GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY. 77
called it the Monte Diablo spring. In after years, settlers began to
make their homes near Monte Diablo, and when the great influx came
in 1848 and 1849, the name was transferred from the little hill to the
large mountain, and has since been applied to the whole range.
There is bnt one river in the whole coast range of California con-
necting with the ocean that is navigable — ^the Salinas, in Monterey
county. There is quite a number which connect with San Francisco,
San Pablo and Suisun bays, from the interior, and are consequently
of nearly equal importance for purposes of trade and commerce, as
if they connected with the ocean. The Suisun, Napa^ Sonoma^ and
Petaluma^ all enter on the north of San Pablo bay, and are navigable
by steamers. North of the Golden Gate, are Russian river, in So-
noma county; Mad and Eel rivers, in Humboldt county; and the
Smith and Klamath, in Del Norte county — all of which are permanent
streams of considerable magnitude, but have too many impediments,
and too great a fall, to be navigable. The Eel has been cleared within
the past few months, as it is proposed to run a steamer up it for a few
miles. On the south are the Pajaro, in Santa Cruz and Monterey coun-
ties ; the Santa Inez and Santa Clara^ in Santa Barbara county; the
Santa Maria, in San Luis Obispo counij; the Santa Ana and San
Grabriel, in Los Angeles county; and a number of others; but as the
latter are little better than channels for carrying off the superfluous
rain during the wet season, being dry at nearly all other seasons, they
are not of sufficient importance to deserve further mention in this
place.
THE HAKBORS OP OALIFOENIA,
BAN FBANdSOO HABBOB.
This, the safest, best, and most capacious harbor on the western
coast of North America^ is a securely land-locked bay, nearly fifty
miles in length, by an average of about nine miles in width, with
deep water, good anchorage, and well sheltered by the surround-
ing hills from the violence of the winds, from every point of the
compass. The entrance to this bay, which none of the early naviga-
tors were able to discover, is in latitude 37^ 48' north, and longitude
122^ 30' west from Greenwich, is through a strait about five miles in
length and a mile wide, which was most appropriately named Chryso-
palflB — ^the Golden Gate — by Fremont, in his "Geographical Memoir
of California," written in 1847, before the source of the golden streams
which have since flowed through it, was discovered.
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78 THE NATURAL "WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
^As all the waters from the interior flow through this opening to
the sea^ there is a considerable outward current, at ebb tide, which
runs at the rate of six miles an hour, at ordinary seasons, and with
much greater force during seasons of flood; but such are the admirable
arrangements made by Nature, in completing her work at this point,
that this current offers no impediment to vessels coming in, there
never being less than thirty feet of water on any part of the entrance.
The shores of this strait are bold and rocky, rising on the north side,
in some places to nearly two thousand feet in height, bare and bleak.
On the south, many of the hills, which are from three hundred to four
hundred feet high, are covered with nearly white sands, which ar6
shifted by every breeze. While on the outside of this entrance, all is
drear and gloomy — nothing to be seen but barren rocks and sandy
dunes, rendered additionally dismal by the fogs which prevail a
greater portion of the year, during the early part of each day, once
through the narrow opening, the scene changes as by magic. Passing
through the strait, which trends at right angles to the bay, as its end
is reached, a striking contrast is presented : the fog is left behind, the
gently sloping hills, on the north of the lower bay, are either emerald
green, in the spring, or russet brown with the remains of the summer's
verdure, in the fall. In front, in the middle of the channel, and only
about four miles from the entrance, is Fort Alcatraz^ bristling with
heavy ojdjjjglipe, and crowned with a tall light-house. To the right, and
still nearer to the "Gate," on a projecting spur of rocks, which appears
to have been placed there for that express purpose, stands the red
brick buildings of Fort Point, surrounded by a labyrinth of solid
granite fortifications. Beyond, on the south, appears a forest of masts
of vessels anchored in the stream, or moored to the wharves, which
extend along the entire city front. On the right, spread over miles
of deeply cut hills, and artificially made levels, which extend far into
the waters of the bay, lies the city of San Francisco. On the opposite
shore is Oakland and Alameda, peeping through groves of live oak,
while, around in all directions, is seen the gently undulating coimtry
which forms the garden of the State, its hills rising tier above tier,
each of different tint, as "distance lends enchantment to the view."
The beauties of the bay of San Francisco are not, however, of that
soft, voluptuous, enervating type, which poets and travelers ascribe to
the famous bay of Naples; they are. of a sturdier, hardier, more active
and animated character — as much in conformity with the spirit of the
people who dwell along its borders, as the warm, nppleless waters of
the Neapolitan bay are in consonance with its lazzaroni
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OEOGBAPHT AKD TOPOOBAPHY. 79
There are a number of islands and harbors within San Franoisco
and connecting bays, of considerable importance.
Alcatraz island, near the entrance of the Golden Gate, is about
1,600 feet in length by 450 feet in width, containing about thirty-five
acres. Its highest point is 135 feet above the waters of the bay. It is
the key to the fortifications of the harbor.
Angel island is the largest in San Francisco bay. It contains up-
wards of eight hundred acres of good land, with an abundant supply
of fresh water. It was formerly well timbered with oak, when it
formed an interesting object in the landscape, as seen from the city of
San Francisco, four nules distant. It contains few trees now, but
produces good crops of wheat and barley. There are upon it quar-
ries of excellent building stone. Most of the rock used in construct-
ing the fortifications on Alcatraz; and at Fort Point, was obtained
at these quarries ; the stone used in the erection of the Bank of Cali-
fomia^ one of the handsomest structures on the coasts was also ob-
tained here.
Yerba Buena^ or Goat island, lies directly opposite San Francisca
It is much smaller than Angel island.
Molate island, or Bed Bock, about four miles north of Angel island,
is a barren rock, of some little importance^ as it contains a vein of
manganese ore, of which several shipments have been made to
England.
Bird Bock, and the Two Sisters, are unimportant but picturesque
rocks, near the northern end of San Francisco bay.
There are several other rocks and islands around the shores of this
bay, which are not of sufficient importance to be noticed in this place.
At the head of San Pablo bay stands Napa or Mare island, on which
the United States navy-yard is located, forming one side of the straits
and bay of Napa, which connects with Napa creek, a stream from the
Suscol mountains.
Vallejo — a rapidly improving town, once the capital of the State-
is located on the east side of Napa Bay, and opposite the navy-yard on
Mare island. There is good anchorage and shelter, and plenty of
water for the largest vessels in this bay. The Vallejo and Sacramento
railroad, connecting with the Central Pacific, the Folsom and Placer-
ville, and the Northern or Marysville railroads, has its terminus here,
bringing the Pacific railroad within thirty miles of San Francisco.
At the eastern entrance of the Straits of Carquinez, which have a length
of seven miles, are situate the towns of Benicia and Martinez. They
occupy sites opposite each other — ^the straits hero being about four
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80 THE NA!FDRAL MmALTH OF CAIJFOBNLL
miles wide. A steam ferry boat runs between them. The yarions
towns and harbors further inland are referred to elsewhere.
With such facilities for foreign and domestic trade, as the harbor of
San Francisco affords to that city, there is nothing remarkable in the
fact that three-fourths of the capital, and nearly one-fourth of the popu-
lation of the State, are concentrated there.
Tidal Injlveticea. — ^The tidal influences on the rivers emptying into
the bay of San Francisco, extend to the head of navigation in the
interior. The maximum rise of full tide at San Francisco, is 8 feet
two inches; at Benicia, 7 feet 6 inches; at Sacramento, 2 feet 6 inches ;
at Stockton, 2 feet 1 inch. At Crescent city, on the north, the maximum
rise of tide is 9 feet; at San Diego, on the south, 7 feet
SAN niEOO HABBOB.
San Piego harbor is on the extreme southern portion of the coast
line within the boundary of Califomia, in San Diego couniy, latitude
32^41^ four hundred and fifty-six miles south of San Francisco. It is
next in importance to San Francisco bay, both in security and geogra-
phical position. It was the principal harbor of Upper California until
1830. It is well sheltered from all winds by surrounding hills, but
has few of the advantages for inland traffic possessed in such an emi-
nent degree by San Francisco. The harbor is in the form of a broad
curve, about twelve miles in length, and from one to two miles wide.
For about five miles from its entrance there is a channel half a mile
wide, in which there is never less than thirty feet of water, with excel-
lent anchorage, on a sandy clay bottom.
Being several hundred miles more directly in the track of the
China and Sandwich islands steamers than San Francisco, it might
become a formidable rival to that port in the important trade with
those coimtries were it connected with a railroad across the continent;
but the resources of the country are being so slowly developed that
it is not probable such a railroad will be built in the immediate future.
The California, Mexico, and Oregon Steam Navigation Company con-
template erecting a wharf here, which would be a great benefit to the
trade of the place, and aid in developing the wealth of the country.
The trade is at present confined to shipping wine, wool, and other
products.
SAH PEDBO BAT.
This bay is in Los Angeles county, three hundred and seventy-three
miles south of San Francisco. This harbor is formed by a spur from
Point Si Vincent, which trends to the south about eight miles, and
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OEOGRAPHT AND TOPOGRAPHY. 81
Deadman's Island, which lies across its end, while the mainland on
this portion of the coasts trending to the southeast, forms a capacious
bay, sheltered from all except the southerly winds — the most dangerous
along that coast during the fall and winter. The water for several
miles from the mainland, is very shallow, vessels being compelled to
anchor about two miles off shore, but there is pleniy of water and good
anchorage near the island. AU the freight and passengers, by steamers
and sailing vessels, are placed on board and landed by means of lighters.
The port of San Pedro lost much of its importance in 1858, when the
town of WOmington was established, at the head of what is now called
Wilmington bay, about four miles further inland, and nearer to the
city of Los Angeles, but there is considerable trade there now. It is
the port for the fishermen of Santa Catalina and Santa Barbara islands,
and a large portion of the produce of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara
counties is shipped and supplies landed here. It has been proposed
to erect a breakwater at San Pedro, from Deadman's island to Battle-
snake island, about one and a quarter miles in length, running north
and south, and from Fisherman's pointy near the old San Pedro whar^
about half a mile in length, running east and west. Were these
walls built, San Pedro would be the safest and most commodious har-
bor on the southern coast. As this is the most convenient point for
shipping the valuable produce of Los Angeles and San Bernardino
counties, a safe and capacious harbor becomes a matter of importance
connected with the development of the resources of that section of the
State. The necessity for using lighters in shipping or landing freight
does not conform to modem American ideas of commerce. As there is
no remedy for the present condition of matters in this vicinity, except
the construction of a breakwater, it is almost certain that one will soon
be built.
Anaheim landing, the center of the wine trade of Los Angeles, is
located on the northern bank of the Santa Ana river, about ten miles
south from Wilmington. Here, also, the water is so shallow that
vessels are compelled to anchor three miles from the shore, all goods
and passengers being landed in lighters or boats. The Anaheim
Lighter Company does an extensive business in loading produce and
landing supplies for the wine and fruit growers, farmers and stock
raisers in the district.
THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL.
This roadstead is formed by the islands of San Miguel, Santa Eosa^
and Santa Cruz, which are about tweniy miles from and parallel with
6
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82 THE NATUKAL WEALTH OF CALIPOENIA.
the mainland, south of Point Concepcion, where the coast line trends
almost due east for about sixty miles. This channel affords shelter
on the north and south, but is exposed from the east and west.
There is plenty of water and good holding ground in the middle of the
channel, but the whole coast, nearly as far down as San Diego, is shal-
low for several miles from the shore.
There is a good wharf at the town of Santa Barbara^ which runs
out nearly one thousand feet, and enables vessels drawing twelve feet
of water to load and unload alongside. This section of the State,
being chiefly devoted to cattle and sheep raising, the shipping business
is not very extensive. Wool and hides form leading items in the exports.
The extensive deposits of asphaltum which exist on this section of
the coast give employment to several vessels in supplying the demand
for the San Francisco market, where it is largely used for paving and
other purposes. The vessels engaged in this business load from the
beach, where they collect the material. The following plan for loading
asphaltum will explain the nature of the coast in this vicinity, and be
interesting as an illustration of Yankee inventiveness. The proprie-
tor of a large deposit of this mineral found it impossible to get it on
board vessels to send to a markei The breakers, which curl with great
fury for miles along the coasts stove all the boats he used, and the shore
was so hard and rocky that piles could not be driven to make a whar^
and the vessels were compelled to lay too far out to make a connection
with the shore. As a last resource, he hit upon an expedient. Having
a number of yoke of well trained oxen, they are made to haul a large
cart containing three or four tons of asphaltum through the surf
beyond the breakers, where boats from the vessel are in waiting to
receive it, the oxen standing up to their ears in the salt water while
the boats are being loaded. About twenty tons a day are loaded in this
manner.
At San Buenaventura^ about tweniy-five miles southeast from Santa
Barbara^ there is a landing at which it is contemplated to build a wharf
to connect with a road from this place to Owens' valley, via Havilah,
Kern county. Should this project be carried out, it would greatly
increase the importance of Santa Barbara as a shipping port.
SAN LUIS OBISPO BAT.
San Luis Obispo bay is a small, open indentation on the coast-Une,
with good anchorage and plenty of water, south of Point San Luis, a
spur of Mount Buchon, which projects five or six miles to the west-
Wa^rd, affording shelter from northerly gales. It is in San Luis Obispo
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GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY. 83
comity, about two hundred miles south of San Francisco, but is of
little importance as a harbor.
About ten miles further north is Estero bay, formed by a bold head-
land terminating the Santa Lucia mountains, which projects to the
north-west, and thus affords a much better shelter than San Luis bay.
A deep lagoon runs inland three or four miles behind Estero point, in
which there is excellent anchorage and good conveniences for a road
and landing. This lagoon is sheltered from all points, except the
south. The Califomia^ Oregon and Mexico Steamship Company have
had this place surveyed, with a view of making it a refuge for their
vessels during the prevalence of northerly and westerly gales ; such a
place of safety being very much required on this portion of the coast.
There are a number of other places between Estero point and San
Pedro, which are well adapted for coasting harbors^ but they afford
little shelter from the most dangerous winds that blow along that part
of the coasi
UOVTEBEI BAT.
Monterey bay is ninety-two miles south of San Francisco. It is a
broad, open bay, about thirty miles wide, circular in form. Point
Pinos forming its southern, and Point New Tear its northern head-
lands. Santa Cruz harbor is near the latter, and Carmelo bay near
the former. These afford shelter to vessels^ from certain quarters^
but the bay of Monterey is exposed to all except easterly winds.
There are a number of points around this bay, where coasting vessels
cany on an extensive business. There are wharves erected for their
accommodation, at Watsonville, Soquel, Miller's landing, Pajaro, (at
the mouth of the Pajaro river, the port of the rich valley of that name,)
and Millard's point The wharf at Aptos creek is eleven hundred feet
in length, from low-tide water. Considerable improvements have
been made at Monterey whar^ which is now carried out to deep water.
Before this improvement, passengers and freight were landed, from
little boats, on the rocks along the shore.
The wharves at the mouth of the Salinas river have also been
greatly improved. The dimensions of this river increase so greatly
during the winter season, as to make it a risky business to build ex-
pensive wharves along its shores. Its usual width, at the entrance of
the bay, is about four hundred and fifty feet. In 1862, during the wet
season, it exceeded a mile.
The bay is safest and most sheltered in front of the town of Mon-
terey, under the lee of Point Pinos, but the trade is not in that direc-
tion. Carmelo bay, on the other side of this point, is also tolerably
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84 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOKNIA.
well sheltered, but it is not convenient for shipping. This little bay
is one of the most delightful places along the coasi The mission of
San Carlos was located here, its massive ruins still remaining to show
the taste and skill of its early builders. It was from this bay that
the granite used for building purposes at San Francisco, was obtained,
before the discovery of the quarries at Folsom.
One of the most pleasant trips for a summer day is across Mon-
terey bay, from Santa Cruz to the old town of Monterey. The two
places are twenly-one miles distant by water, but forty-five miles by
land. The water is so peculiarly transparent that the rocks, pebbles,
and mosses at the bottom, are distinctly seen, to the depth of nearly
twenty feei^ while the shore of the bay in the viciniiy of the old town
is bold, rocky, and exceedingly picturesque. The town itself is located
in a sort of nook on the side of a gently sloping hUl, every house in it
being visible from the water. It is surrounded by lofty hills, crested
with pine and redwood, which lend a peculiar charm to the scene,
embracing the clear waters of the bay in the f oregroimd, with the dark,
moss-covered rocks along the shore, and the hill side dotted with the
white dwellings in the city, surmounted by the dark green belt of tim-
ber which forms a fringe against the pale blue sky. Beyond the beauty
of the scenery and the interest felt in the place, there is little to attract
strangers to Monterey.
Several parties of whalers have had their headquarters in this bay
for some years past. They ship from five hundred to fifteen hundred
barrels of oil annually to San Francisco. If the contemplated break-
water, near Santa Cruz, is ever completed, Monterey bay will become
of great importance to the commerce of the coast
fiAlTFA OBUZ HABBOB.
Santa Cruz harbor is eighty miles south of San Francisco. It is
situated at the northern extremity of Monterey bay, in Santa Cruz
county, latitude 36^ 57', on the westerly slope of the Santa Cruz ridge
of the coast range. It is one of the most important ports on the
southern coast, being the outlet for the products of an extensive section
of the richest agricultural and timber lands in the State, and the seat
of a rapidly expanding manufacturing interest. Over one third of all
the lime used at San Francisco, is shipped from this port, and there
are extensive manufactories of powder, paper, leather, and a number
of lumber-miUs, which ship their products and receive their supplies
from this place, giving employment to a large amount of tonnage —
both sailing vessels and steamers.
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GEOGBAPHT AND TOPOGBAPHT. 85
TThe San Lorenzo, a beautiful stream of fresh water, which in its
course affords motive power to numerous factories erected alcmg its
banks, passes through the town of Santa Cru^ into the bay of
Monterey.
This harbor is small, but has twenty-four feet of water at low tide,
with good anchorage, and is well sheltered except from the southwest,
which makes it dangerous to enter or leave during the prevalence of
winds from that quarter.
It is in contemplation to erect a breakwater, to protect this exposed
portion. The officers of the United States coast survey have made
several examinations of* the locality for this purpose. It has been
suggested that a wall, extending from Seal Bock point for two thousand
feei^ eastward, across the bay of Monterey, and a few feet above high
water-mark, would make this a safe resort for vessels during the south-
erly gales, so dangerous along the coasts and from which there is no
place of shelter at present The erection of a light on Seal Bock
point) or some other suitable place in the vicinity, has become a neces-
sity, in consequence of the increasing importance of the trade of Santa
Cruz — second only to that of San Francisco.
HAIiF MOCK BAT.
This bay is in San Mateo county, forty-six miles south of San Fran-
cisco. It is of little importance as a harbor, but is a most convenient
point for shipping grain, produce, and lumber, from that portion of
the coast to San Francisco. Spanish town, quite a thriving place, is
located at the landing on this bay.
dbaxb's bat.
Drake's bay is in Marin county, south of Point Beyes, and thirty
miles north of the Golden Gate. It is of no importance, except as
being, the place where the great English navigator, whose name it bears,
landed. It is sometimes called Jack's harbor, a name given to it by
the fishermen, who resort there to follow their vocation.
TOMAIiBS BAT.
This bay is forty-five miles north of San Francisco, in Marin
county, latitude 38^ 15'. It is formed by an inlet of the Pacific ocean,
which here i)enetrates the Coast Bange about sixteen miles, nearly to
the center of Marin county, averaging about a mile and a quarter wide
for about twelve miles from the entrance, which is less than half a mile
wide. There is a bar at the mouth of this entrance, having eleven feet
of water at low tide.
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86 THE KATUBAL TnSALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
It is perfectly land-locked, and sheltered from all winds. It has
two small islands about three miles from the entrance, about two acres
in extent, which are covered with verdure. Its safety, and the beauty
of the surrounding scenery, makes it a sort of miniature copy of the
bay of San Francisco.
The surrounding country is famous for its agricultural products,
particularly butter, of which article Marin produces more than any
other county in the State.
The lands around this beautiful little bay are high, but gently un-
dulating in outline. The hills, being covered with grass and wild
oats, afford pasturage for extensive flocks and herds.
Preston's point, on the east side of the bay, and about three miles
from its entrance, named in honor of R J. Preston, the pioneer settler
in the district, is destined to become the site of an important agricul-
tural trade. There is a good wharf here, eleven feet of water along-
side, where there is generally quite a fleet of schooners, loading pro-
duce for the San Francisco market, this being the most convenient
shipping port for Bloomfield, distant only nine miles, and for a number
of villages scattered throughout this section of the county. Olema^
one of the most thriving towns in the county, is located immediately at
the head of this bay. Four miles from its south-east shore, on the
banks of a beautiful stream of water — ^the San Lorenzo, which flows
from Moimt Tamelpais — ^is located the Pioneer paper-mill of Cali-
fornia.
BODBQA BA7.
This harbor is formed by a narrow spit of land, about two miles
in length, which projects from the south of Bodega Hea^ and extends
to within three miles of the spit which forms the western side of To-
males bay. The two bays are reached through the same entrance,
between these spits. It is very much smaller, and scarcely as well
sheltered as Tomales bay, being open to the southerly gales, which
sometimes blow with considerable violence during the fall. It has but
nine feet of water at low tide. The Bussians selected the point of land
forming the western side of this harbor for their settlement, which
they maintained from 1812 to 1841.
A considerable trade is carried on in the shipment of produce, there
being good anchorage and wharf accomodation for vessels engaged
in the business. The town of Bodega is located at the head of this
bay about fif iy miles distant from San Francisco.
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QBOaBAPUY AKD TOPOGBAPHT. 87
HUHBOLDT BAT.
Humboldt bay is two hundred and twenfy-three miles north of San
Francisco, in Humboldt county, latitude-4(F44^ It is a securely land-
locked harbor — ^the best on the northern coast — ^formed by two densely
timbered peninsulas, which enclose a very handsome bay, about twelve
nules in length, and from two to five miles in width, its shores thickly
timbered with magnificent pine and redwood, to the water's edge.
The entrance to this bay is about a quarter of a mile wide, with eigh-
teen feet of water at low tide. It is somewhat difficult for sailing ves-
sels to make this entrance at certain seasons, but there are powerful
tow boats belonging to the port which are always on hand when
required. The upper portion of this bay is quite shallow, but there is
plenty of water and good anchorage along the lower portions. There
is an extensive trade in lumber, salmon, and produce carried on here,
as well as considerable ship building.
The Elk and Jacoby rivers passing through a good agricultural
country, empty into this bay, and there are several good roads con-
necting it with the interior. Eureka, the county seat, and Areata^ are
located on the shores of the bay. The Eel river settlement is about
forty miles distant^ inland. This important harbor was not discovered
until 1850, when a party of prospectors, among whom was a lumberman
from New Brunswick, while searching for gold, saw it> and perceiving
the advantages it presented for obtaining and shipping lumber, they
abandoned gold hunting, and set to work cutting timber. The first log
was cut in July, 1850; since that time, 400,000,000 feet have been sent
to market^ vessels loading in the bay for the Sandwich Islands, China^
Australia^ and Central America^ as well as for San Francisco.
TRINIDAD BAT.
Trinidad bay is an open roadstead, sheltered to some extent from
the north by a point of land extending at an acute angle about a mile
to the south. The town of Trinidad is located at the base of this poini
It is in Klamath county, two hundred and thirty-nine miles north of
San Francisco, in latitude ^I'^OS". It has better anchorage and deeper
water than Crescent City, from which it is distant about foriy miles.
The principal trade of the place is in lumber of which the coimty pro-
duces large quantities, most of it being shipped from this point.
CBESCEMT CITT HABBOB.
This is an open roadstead, in Del Norte county, two hundred and
eighty miles north of San Francisco, in latitude 41^30', near the
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88 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIPOBNLL
extreme northern boundary of the State. The harbor is formed by
Point St. George, a bold headland projecting nearly a mile to the
west, on the south of which a plain about twenty miles in length, and
from six to seven miles in width, forms the coast line. Crescent City,
the county seat, is located on the south of this plain. A considerable
trade is carried on with the mining districts in the mountains adjoin-
ing, in both Oregon and California^ this being the nearest place for
obtaining supplies.
The mountain regions, comprising about nine tenths of the county,
also produce large quantities of redwood, pine, and fir, that make
excellent timber, which is shipped from this port in considerable
quantities. There are good wharf accomodations for vessels to load,
but the harbor being exposed to the fury of the southwesterly gales,
it is not safe when the wind blows from that quarter. In 1862, a vio-
lent gale destroyed nearly four hundred feet of the wharf, which was,
at that time, thirteen hundred feet in length. It has been greatly
extended and improved since.
The anchorage is indifferent^ and the water along the coast, south
of the point, so shallow that vessels drawing twelve feet of water are
not safe within half a mile of the shore, except at the wharves in front
of Crescent City.
UfPBOVBMENTS TO BE HADB.
The subject of improving the harbors along the coast bounding this
State, and establishing places of refuge in which the large fleet of
steamers and sailing vessels engaged in the coasting trade can find
shelter in emergencies, appears to be attracting the attention of the
Federal government. Several examinations have recently been made
by officers especially detailed for this purpose. In view of the rapidly
expanding foreign and domestic commerce of California^ which is
exceeded by that of few States in the Union at present, it would
appear to be the duty of the government, independent of all political
considerations, to have everything done that is necessary to afford secu-
rity or facilities to the shipping engaged in this commerce. It is urged
by those most interested in this matter, that lights are required at
Point Reyes, at Santa Cruz, and at San Pedro, and that breakwaters be
built on the north of Monterey bay, and at the mouth of the harbor of
San Pedro. From the outline of the coast harbors given in the fore-
going, the necessity for these improvements appears obvious.
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OEOGBAPHT AND TOPOGRAPHY.
ISLANDS ON THE COAST OP CALIFORNIA.
The Farralones consist of two clusters, comprising seven islands,
the nearest of which is about twenty miles west from the Golden Gate.
They are all utterly destitute of soil and vegetation, consisting of
bare, rugged rocks, which are the resort of immense numbers of sea-
lions, and of myriads of birds, the eggs of which at one time were
a source of great profit to those who collected them. As many as
25,000 dozen were collected in some seasons lasting from the middle
of May until the middle of June, which sold at from thirty to fifty cents
per dozen. The southernmost of the group is the largest, containing
about two acres, and is also the nearest to the coast On this there is
a first-class lighthouse, to "warn the mariner of the dangers of the
locality.
No water fit for drinking except such as was collected from rains
and fogs, was obtainable on any of these islands until 1867, when some
of the egg-gatherers discovered a spring on the main island, within a
half-mile of the lighthouse. The water from this spring, which is of a
pale amber color, and pleasant to the taste, possesses important medi-
omal qualities: by analysis, it is found to contain chlorides of sodium,
lime, and magnesia^ with traces of sulphate of ammonium and free
hydrochloric acid.
There are no other islands on the coast of California north of Point
Concepcion. South of that headland, there are two groups, the most
northerly consisting of the islands of San Miguel, on the west ; Santa
Bosa^ in the center; and Santa Cruz, on the easi They are nearly in
a line, parallel with, and about twenty miles distant from the main-
land, in Santa Barbara county, and form the southern boundary of the
Santa Barbara channeL
Santa Cruz, the largest of this group, is tweniy-one miles in length,
and four miles wide, and has a rugged surface. The Messrs. Barron,
of San Francisco, who own this island, graze about thirty thousand
sheep upon ii
Santa Bosa is fifteen miles in length, and nearly ten miles wide.
Its surface is tolerably level, and produces a thick crop of coarse grass
and low bushes ; but its steep, rugged sides, which rise nearly two
hundred feet almost perpendicularly, afford no good landing place.
This island was once inhabited by a large tribe of Indians, who, until
1840, furnished the currency for all the tribes along that section of the
coast, and from the Tulare valley. This currency was called ponga,
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90 THE NATUBAL \7EALTH OF CAUFORNLL
and was made of the hard shell of a species of edible moUusca, which
abounds along the southern coast. These shells were rounded, had a
hole made in the middle, and were strung on fibres of wild hemp.
This was the only currency in the country until 1820. Santa Bosa is
now inhabited by several Mexican families, who raise a considerable
number of cattle, besides herding ten thousand sheep.
San Miguel is nearly eight miles long, and from two to three miles
wide. It is almost a barren rock ; but several thousand sheep man-
age to subsist upon the limited pasturage growing on the island. About
forty miles southeast from the above cluster of islands, and off the
coast opposite Los Angeles county, are the islands of San Nicolas and
Santa Barbara, and still further in the same direction are Santa Cata-
lina and San Clemente. These are not so close together, or as neeur
the shore, as the others.
San Nicolas, the most western, is nearly sixty miles from the main
land. It is eight miles in length, by about four miles in width. Its
surface is a flat ridge, nearly six himdred feet high, tapering down in
rocky ledges to the sea. It is occupied as a sheep ranch; about eight
thousand of these animals appear to thrive on the scant herbage it pro-
duces.
Santa Barbara lies about half-way, and nearly in line, between the
main land and San Nicolas. It is nearly circular in outline, and about
two miles in diameter at the base; its surface, on the top, containing
about thirty acres. It is about five hundred feet high — steep and
rocky on all sides, and is tenanted by swarms of sea-lions, gulls, and
other aquatic birds.
Santa Catalina^ the largest island of this group, is about four hun-
dred miles south from San Francisco, and twenty-five miles from San
Pedro, its nearest point to the main land. It is nearly twenty-eight
miles in length, about seven miles wide on its southern, and two
miles on its northern end. Its surface is rough and uneven, some
points being three thousand feet above the sea-level, but contains sev-
eral small valleys which are under cultivation, fruit-trees and vege-
tables thriving in these sheltered places, while quite large flocks of
sheep find pasturage among the surroimding hills. There is a small
stream of pure water running nearly through its entire length ; it also
has a number of springs of fresh water. The mountains contain several
large veins of white quartz, in which there are numerous deposits of
argentiferous galena and copper ores. "Wild goats, hogs, and quail
abound in the upper portion of the hills. It has two good harbors near
its center — Catalina bay on the south, and Union bay on the north —
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GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGBAPHT. 91
which are separated by an isthmus about half a mile wide. It was
taken possession of by the United States, for military purposes, in
January, 1864:, and a company of soldiers have been stationed there
since. This island, when first discovered, was inhabited by a tribe of
Indians^ who carried on quite a trade with the natives of the mainland,
by means of large canoes. Not a relic of the race remains.
San Glemente, the most southern, lies about fifty miles from the
main land, off San Diego county. It is tweniy-two miles in length, by
about two miles in width, being but little more than a series of rocky
peaks, some of which rise upwards of one thousand feet above the
level of the sea. It contains neither soil, vegetation, nor water. It is
occasionally visited by seal-hunters, who make considerable quantities
of oil from some of the animals f oimd there.
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CHAPTER III.
THE COUNTIES OF CALIFOENIA.
Southern, Coasts Northern, Mountain and Valley Counties. Southern Counties: San Diego
— San Bernardino — Los Angeles — Santa Barbara — San Luis Obispo — ^E em. Coast Coun-
ties: Monterey — Santa Cruz — Santa Clara — San Mateo — San Francisco— Alameda —
Contra Costa— Marin — Sonoma — ^Napa — ^Lake— Mendocino. Northern Counties: Hum-
boldt— ^Trinity — ^Klamath — ^Del Norte — Siskiyou — Shasta —Lassen. Mountain Counties :
Plumas — Sierra — Nevada — Placer— El Dorado— Amador— Alpine— Calaveras— Tuol-
umne—Mariposa — ^Mono— Inya Valley Counties: Tehama — ^Butte — Colusa— Sutter —
Yuba— Yolo— Solano — Sacramento— San Joaquin — Stanislaus — Merced— Fresno — ^Tu-
lare.
The great extent and peculiar topographical features of California
cause some districts within its limits to differ so widely from others in
soil, climate, and natural productions, that it is necessary to make a
classification of the counties into which it is divided, in order to con-
vey a clear idea of its resources and capabilities.
The semi-tropical heat, scant vegetation, and broad arid plains of
San Diego and San Bernardino counties, on the south, are as much in
contrast with the cold, pine-covered mountain regions of Del Norte
couniy, on the north, as the State of Maine is in contrast with Florida.
The coimties embracing the crests of the Sierra Nevada, which have a
climate of almost polar severity, inhabited solely on account of their
mineral wealth, cannot, with propriety, be classed with those among
the foot hills, which are as important for their agricultural as for their
mineral resources ; nor can these be classed with those in the Coast
Bange, or with those in the great central valley.
This extraordinary diversity of climate and soil, the dividing lines
of which are so diflScult to define, enables California to produce in per-
fection the grains, fruits, and vegetables peculiar to all countries — ^the
olive, orange, pomegranate, cotton, and tobacco, fiouriahing in close
proximity to the potato, wheat, flax, and rye — and insures the growth
of the finest wools in districts where the vegetation is of a tropical
character.
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBNIA. 93
The nnavoidable difference in the form and dimensions of the
fifty counties into which the State is divided, renders it impossible to
make more than an approximate partition of its territory according to
climate or products, but as they are well defined and generally recog-
nized, they are adopted in preference to making arbitrary lines.
80X7THEBN COUNTIES.
San Diego, San Bernardino, Jjos Angeles, Santa Barbara^ San Luis
Obispo, and Kern counties, comprise what is generally considered
Southern California. Although only six in number, these counties em-
brace nearly one-third of the territory of the State. They contain
above 60,000 square miles, or more than 30,000,000 acres of land, three
fourths of which is adapted to agricultural or grazing purposes — much
of it being the very garden of the State, producing the greatest variety
of fruits, grain and vegetables.
The proportions of this important division of California not being
clearly apparent through the above figures, we make the following
comparison between them and some of the Atlantic States, because,
although figures never lie, they do not always tell the whole truth:
Massachusetts 9ontains 7,800 square miles; Connecticut, 4,674; Bhode
Island, 1,306; Vermont, 10,212; New Hampshire, 9,280; New Jersey,
8,320; Delaware, 2,120, and Maryland, 11,124; a total of 54,836 square
miles for eight Atlantic States. These six southern counties of Cali-
fornia contain nearly as much territory as all of those States, and a
great deal more than either of the great States of New York, Pennsyl-
vania, or Ohio. The present population of these counties does not
exceed twenty-five thousand.
OOASF OOUKTIBd.
Monterey, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara^ San Mateo, San Prancisco,
Alameda, Contra Costa^ Marin, Sonoma^ Napa^ Lake, and Mendocino
counties, located along the Coast Bange, are classed imder this head.
They embrace only a small portion of the territory of the State, but
contain the greater portion of its wealth and population, and are the
chief centers of its trade, commerce, and manufactures.
KOBTHEBN CO UM TIES.
Humboldt, Trinity, Klamath, Del Norte, Siskiyou, Shasta, and Las-
sen counties, comprise Northern California. They embrace a territory
extending from the fortieth to the forty-second parallel of north lati-
tude, and from the one hundred and twentieth to the one hundred and
twenty-fifth degree of longitude, west
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94 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA. *
HOUNTAIN COUKTZBS.
Plumas, Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Amador, Alpine, Cala-
veras, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Mono, and Inyo, embracing the main chain
of the Sierra Nevada mountains, are considered the mountain coun-
ties. Thej are comparatively small in size, and although containing
nearly all the important gold and silver mines in the State, the whole
territory of the ten principal mining counties is not as large as that of
the pastoral couniy of San Bernardino.
VAIjIiET cottkties.
Tehama, Butte, Colusa, Sutter, Tuba^ Yolo, Solano, Sacramento,
San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Fresno, and Tulare counties, located
in the great central valleys, between the Sierra Nevada and the coast
ranges, are classed as valley counties.
SOUTHERN COUNTIES.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY.
San Diego county comprises the most southern portion of the State.
It extends along the border separating it from the peninsula of Lower
California^ from the Pacific Ocean on the west, to the Colorado river,
on the east — a distance of one hundred and fifty miles. From north to
south the county is one hundred miles in length. It is bounded on
the north by San Bernardino county, on the east by Arizona, on
the west by the Pacific Ocean, and contains 8,500,000 acres, of which
the Colorado desert covers about 2,500,000 acres, about 4,000,000
of acres are mountains and canons, and some 2,000,000 consist of level
plains and valleys along the Coast Bange, or among the mountains,
suitable for farming or grazing. ,
Two unnamed branches of the Coast Bange, passing through the
county from north to south, separate it into three divisions, which differ
as much from each other in climate, soil, and topographical features,
as if they were in different portions of the globe. The division border-
ing the coast line forms a broad belt, nearly twenty-five miles wide, a very
considerable portion of which consists of level plains or gently sloping
valleys, which are watered by the San Bernardo, San Diego, San Luis
Bey, Marguerit%, Sweetwater, and other rivers, some of which are per-
manent streams, others dry up during the summer. The greater por-
tion of the land in this division is adapted for agricultural and grazing
purposes. Most of it is unoccupied.
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COUNTIES OF CALIFORNIA. 95
The central, or mountain division, is very irregular in outline, and
averages nearly forty miles in width. It contains extensive tracts of
good farming land. The Santa Isabel district^ about seventy miles
easterly from the town of San Diego, embraces a number of broad
^alleys, or rather table lands, which lie between the two main ridges of
the mountains, at an elevation of three thousand to four thousand feet
above the level of the sea. The culminating peak of these ranges.
Mount San Jacinto, is five thousand five hundred feet high. This dis-
trict enjoys a delightful climate. The vine, orange, wheat, and barley,
are among its products. It is the best agricultural district in the
county.
The mountains are covered with forests of oak, cedar, pine and fir.
Gbld, silver, copper, and other minerals have been found in many
places, in both ranges.
To the east of this mountain division, lies the great Colorado desert,
extending to the borders of the State on the south and east. This
desert, though treeless and arid for many miles along its northern
and western borders, consists of a rich, fertile soil on the south and
east It is evidently a delta formed by the confluence of the Gila and
Ciolorado rivers, which once flowed over it> but have cut a new channel
for themselves in another direction, although this desert is still
below the level of the waters of the gulf into which they both flow.
This curious fact induced Dr. O. M. Wozencraft to entertain the idea
that he could reclaim the greater portion of this land by cutting a canal
from the Colorado, to *" irrigate it This subject was before Congress,
in 1858 and 1859, and received favorable action, but the project was
never carried out, although it is entirely practicable, and will doubtless
be accomplished some day.
This desert, shut off from the benefits of the sea breezes by the
high peaks of the Coast Range, which condense all the moisture from
the air before it passes their limits, is the hottest place in the State.
The thermometer at Fort Yuma^ located at its south-east comer, some-
times reaches 122^ Fahrenheit^ in the shade, during the summer ; but
this great heat does not affect the health of the inhabitants, or prevent
them attending to their affairs.
Great changes have taken place in the topography of this desert
district, within the past thirty years, and others are still in progress.
In 1840, it was partially submerged by the waters of the Colorado.
The New river, through which a portion of these waters now finds its
way to the sea, had no existence until that year. A number of large
lagoons remained for several years after that inundation. The north-
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96 THB KATUBAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
em portion of this desert is one of the most interesting districts in the
State, for observing many of the curious operations of Nature. About
sixty miles from Warner's ranch, and a few miles southwest from Dos
Palmas, a station on the La Paz road, there is a broad valley, bounded
by ranges of hills of hard-baked, red clay, called the Chocolate and
Coyote mountains ; and in this valley is the dry bed of a lake forty
miles in circumference, which is nearly sixty feet below the level of th9
sea. This great basin is separated from the dry beds of a number of
creeks, which appear to have once been connected with it by a level
plain, about five miles wide. Nearly in the center of this plain there
is a lake of boiling mud, about half a mile in length by about five hun*
dred yards in width. In this curious cauldron the thick, greyish mud
is constantly in motion, hissing and bubbling, with jets of boiling
water and clouds of sulphurous vapor and steam bursting through the
tenacious mud, and rising high in the air with reports often heard a
considerable distance. The whole district aroimd this lake appears
to be underlaid with this mud, as it trembles under foot, and subter-
ranean noises are heard in all directions. Hot springs and sulphut
deposits are numerous for many miles aroimd this lake. In 1867, a
large spring of cool, pure water, commenced flowing from a fissure in
a high bluff of rocks, a few hundred yards from the station at Dos
Palmas, where there had been no water before. There had been no
earthquake or unusual subterranean disturbance, to accoimt for such a
phenomenon, which is all the more strange from the fact that none of
the wells sunk in any part of the desert, contain sweet water : it being
always so impregnated with alkali as to be very unpleasant to the taste.
The whole section around these springs and mud volcanoes, appears to
be gradually rising.
From Warner's ranch, a town located on the eastern side of the
Coast Eange, near Warner's pass, on the Fort Yuma road, at the west-
em edge of this desert, for about thirty miles south to Vallacito, the
country has a less desolate appearance. The coast mountains, covered
vnth timber and chaparral, skirt the desert on its western side, and
take from it the monotonous and dreary character which marks the
broad, sandy plains beyond this pointy where the country is indeed
a desert, without a sign of animal or vegetable life, or a drop of water,
for nearly sixty miles. This long stretch of hot, shifting, alkaline
sand, was a terror to travelers until the Gtovemment, in 1850, caused
several wells to be sunk at a place since known as Sackett's wells,
about forty miles from VallfiMsito, which furnished a fair supply of
water, such as it was^ till June, 1867, when a terrible sand-storm
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBNIA. 97
covered the irhole country in that vicinity with a bed of sand several
inches deep, obliterating the wells and all the landmarks around them.
The shifting sands on this portion of the desert, when disturbed by
tiie tempests which frequently pass over them, are as dangerous to
travelers as the fearful siroccos which sweep over the deserts of
Arabia, and change the whole appearance of the country in a few
hours^ obliterating roads and landmarks intended for the guidance of
the wayfarer.
Near the boundary-line towards Arizona, after crossing the New
river, the appearance of the country changes completely. Although
still in the desert district, it is no longer a desert; but the vegetable
and animal life are strange in form and habits. Instead of the shifting
sand, there is a soil of greyish tini^ nearly as hard and compact as
brick, covered with a scant crop of short, wiry grass, among which
grow an infinite variety of cacti, of all shapes and sizes — from the
slender ''rat-tail" to great squat lumps as large as nail kegs^ and
about as handsome in form, all covered with spines and prickles, as if
Nature had tried to make them as hateful as possible. The mesquite
also grows luxuriantly in this section, giving it a forest-like appear-
ance as compared with the sandy plains. The Indians from Arizona and
Lower California, pay this portion of the desert a visit each fall, to
collect a winter's supply of the nutritious beans of this tree. Here, too,
may be seen swarms of paroquets, orioles, and other birds, of the most
brilliant plumage, which aid in giving the whole scene a decidedly
tropical character.
The town of San Diego, located near the harbor of the same name,
is the oldest settled place in the State. It was established in May,
1769, by the missionaries, when they founded the first California
mission — ^located about six miles inland from the town. San Diego,
the Spanish for Si James, the titular saint for this mission, gives
his name to the county, town, and bay. It was called Cosoy by
the aborigines, of whom many thousands lived on the coast plains
when the missionaries arrived 'there. There are scarcely any there
now. The town contains between 300 and 400 inhabitants^ a large
proportion of whom are Mexicans and native Califomians. It is five
hundred miles from San Francisco, and one hundred and twenty-five
miles from Los Angeles.
About a mile from the old town, and near the bay, is New San
Diego, which has been built within a year or two, where the govern-
ment storehouses and several substantial residences, and a new wharf,
have been erected for the accommodation of trade. The California^
7
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98 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA*
Oregon and Mexico Steamship Company are about to erect a wharf and
warehouse, to conduct the increasing business of the port.
There has been quite an increase in the number of settlers in the
county, during the past year. Several of the old Mexican ranchos,
wrhich embraced miles of good land, have been purchased and subdi-
vided among American farmers, who will soon make it produce some-
thing more valuable than hides and tallow.
The mission near the old town had the largest and most beautiful
church, and buildings, on the coast. They covered several acres^ and
were surrounded by extensive gardens and orchards, which produced a
great variety of fruits and flowers. The old church, now crumbling to
ruins, affords evidence of the architectural skill of its reverend build-
ers. Its bells, which for nearly three quarters of a century summoned
the Indian to labor and prayer, were taken from the belfry as recently
as 1866. The church property at present belongs to the Catholic
bishop of the diocese. The old gardens are nearly all destroyed, only
a few olive trees remaining to show where they had been.
San Luis el Bey — or, more properly, San Luis Hey de Fran^ais, in
honor of Louis IX, of France, a warrior in the time of the crusades — is
near the harbor of that name on the coast, about forty-six miles north
from San Diego. It is located in a beautiful valley, about a mile wide,
and twenty-four miles in length, through which passes a permanent
stream of water, the San Luis river. The mission of San Luis Bey
was located in this valley, at the head of which now stands the town
of Pala.
The orange, lemon, lime, citron, walnut, fig, olive, and other trop-
ical fruits, grow to perfection in this valley, as well as wheat, barley,
potatoes and com, but it is only partially under cultivation.
^emecula^ about twenty miles north from Pala, is another town of
some little importance. It contains about sixty Americans, two hun-
dred Mexicans, and nearly six hundred Indians. It was proposed to
establish a reservation at this place for the protection of the Indians,
who are more numerous and better behaved here than in any other por-
tion of the State. They live on rancherias, cultivate considerable land,
and own many cattle, sheep and horaes. This town is located on the bank
of the San Marguerita river, on the southern edge of a series of plains
extending nearly forty miles to the eastward, which comprise some of
the finest grazing lands in the southern portion of the State, being
covered with wild oats, clover, and other nutritious grasses, furnish-
ing pasturage for thousands of cattle, horses, and sheep. These
plains are watered by numerous lagoons, formed along the beds of
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COUNTIES OP CALIFOBNLL ' '99
the rivers wUeli do not flow to the sea, except during the winter.
Much of this fine land is owned by Mexicans, in large tracts. Some
of these people live in the same style they did before the country be-
came a State. One of these native rancheros, living near Temecnla,
who owns several leagues of these plains, and has nearly five thousand
head of cattle grazing on them, never saves a drop of milk, or makes a
pound of butter — ^these being luxuries in little use here.
"Warner's ranch is another small town, about forty-five miles easU
erly from Temecula.
Fort Tuma, a military post in the extreme southeast comer of the
State, has caused a number of settlers to locate in that vicinity, where
there are placer gold mines of some importance, in what is known as
the Picachto district.
The principal products of the couniy are cattle, sheep, hides, wool
and taUow. The great distance from the central market at San Fran-
cisco, and the limited home demand, render it improfitable to raise the
cereals for exportation. Oranges, olives, almonds, raisins and figs,
can be cultivated with success in this county. It has a fine climate,
rich soil, and a good harbor, and contains gold, silver and copper
mines; but its resources are quite undeveloped, for want of population.
SAN BEBNABDINO OOUNTT.
This is the largest county in the State, containing more than
10,000,000 acres, about three-fourths of which consist of dry, desert
valleys, volcanic ranges, and inaccessible mountains, though not wholly
without mineral wealth. About 3,000,000 acres are covered by the
Coast Bange and other mountains, portions of which are valuable for
mining, grazing, and lumbering. *Much of the finest land in the county
is covered by extensive Mexican grants, some of which embrace tracts
of eleven square leagues. These large ranches have been great impedi-
ments in the way of settling the southern counties; but within the past
year, there has been every opportunity offered to actual settlers, to
purchase in subdivisions.
The couniy, which was not organized until 1854 (prior to this, it
formed part of Los Angeles county,) takes its name from a mission
founded by an early Spanish settler named Lugos, who once owned the
whole of the San Bernardino valley, cultivating it chiefly by Indian
labor. This mission stands about ten miles southeast of the old town
of San Bernardino.
The county is bounded on the north by Inyo county, and the State
of Nevada ; on the east by the Colorado river ; on the south, by San
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100 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA*
Diego county and on the wesi^ by Kem and Los Angeles coun-
ties. The Sierra Nevada makes a short, easterly curvature on the
northwest of this county, leaving a tract of wild desert and broken
volcanic ranges on the north and eas<^ nearly one hundred miles in
length by one himdred miles in width, of which scarcely any portion is
fit for human habitation; but, being rich in gold and silver, numerous
mining districts have, from time to time, been laid out and partially
developed. These mining districts are in the north of this great wil-
derness. The Slate Bange, Washington, Argus, Telescope, Armagosa^
Potosi, and several others, attracted some attention a few years since,
but the coimtry is such a miserable desert, without wood or water,
that even gold, unless in large quantities, will not secure its permanent
settlement. Nearly all of these districts have been abandoned,
although some of them are known to be rich in the precious metals.
The whole of this great range of country presents the appearance of
having been broken and torn by subterranean fires, which melted the
hard rocks into rough, jagged masses, after which they were submerged
beneath the ocean for ages, until their extreme roughness was worn off
by curreijts of water charged with sand and gravel, when they were
again elevated above the waters, covered with salt lagoons, drift sands,
and great beds of gravel and mud.
The numerous beds of dry lakes and creeks found in all directions,
mark where these upraised waters passed away. Here and there, the
cones of extinct volcanoes, heaps of pumice, obsidian, and fragments
of lava, boiling mud-holes, hot springs, and deposits of sidphur, show
that the subterranean fires, which probably uplifted and depressed the
country, have not entirely ceased their operations.
There is, probably, no portion of the State less inviting to the
traveler, than this northern section of San Bernardino county. The
vegetation is scant, and altogether different from that growing in the
south-west comer of the county. The yucca (yucca baccata), the
small-nut pine (pinus eduliaX and western jimiper (juniper occiderUdlisX
are all that approach in size to a tree, and these only grow sparsely
among the granite ranges along the Mojave, and at a few other places
among the mountains. The yucca is the most abimdant. This curious
plant is a variety of pabn; it grows from five to fifteen feet high, with a
stem from six inches to a foot in diameter, having from two to five
branches; its leaves, which resemble the blade of a bayonet, hang
down the side of the stem, giving it a rugged, imcouth appearance.
This tree forms a staple article of fuel over hundreds of miles of this
country.
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OOUKTIES OP CALIFORNIA. ' 101
- The sink of the Mojave, or Soda lake, lies in this section of San
Bernardino county. The Mojave riyer flows from Bear valley, running
through canon^ over and under the surface, for more than one hundred
miles before it reaches the lake. This lake is about five miles wide, by
about twenty miles in length. Although called a lake, it never con-
tains any water, the whole stream of the river, during the rainy season,
sinking beneath the alkaline soil as fast as it flows in. In 1867, the
waters of this river were lower than they had been known for many
years, notwithstanding the rains were heavier than usual. A number
of new openings in the earth have been discovered along its course,
through which the waters passed, leaving many springs dry that
were never known to fail before. This fact corroborates our remarks
concerning the gradual rising of the Colorado desert, referred to in the
topography of San Diego county. The entire surface of this Soda lake
is covered with carbonate of soda^ to such a depth as to give it the
appearance of a snow drift
The great Death valley, in the north of this county, extends into
Inyo in its northeastern comer. This frightful place, according to the
surveys of Major Williamson, is from one hundred to two hundred and
fifty feet below the level of the ocean, while, but seventy miles west of
it are clustered a number of the highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada^
many of which are from 12,000 to 15,000 feet in height These facts
will afford some idea of the wild confusion of mountains^ canons, and
depressions that mark the topography of this portion of the State.
This valley, which owes its name to the melancholy fate of a large
party of imigrants, who perished from thirst within its limits, in 1852,
is one hundred miles long by twenty miles wide. For forty-five miles
in length, and fifteen miles in width, along its center, it is a salt marsh,
with a thin layer of soil covering an unknown depth of soft gray mud.
The Amargoza river sinks into this marsh. The sides of the valley are
steep and barren, a few mesquite, growing among the sands at its head,
being all the vegetation to be seen. Its western bank is formed of
gravel and hardened mud; on the east it is bounded by high moun-
tains of slate* and granite. There is no water fit to drink for many
miles, and although there are numerous springs, they are all intensely
alkaline. The whole surface of the valley, except the marsh in the
center, is covered with sand and gravel, and is scarred in all directions
with deep grooves, which appear to have been made by freshets, caused
by heavy storms, or bursting of water spouts, that occasionally have
done considerable mischief in the surrounding region within the past
year or two. The heat of this valley is fearful during the summer.
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102- • • .• THE NATpBAL WiEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
An exploring party, -^rho visited it in January, 1865, the coolest 6ea-
son of the year, found the temperature 90^ Fahrenheit. When there is
no breeze through the long canon the air becomes so dense that respi-
ration is painful and difficult During the spring terrible gales of
wind blow through this canon in opposite directions, filling the air with
salt, gravel, and sand, in clouds as black as coal smoke. Altogether
it is as dismal and dreary a place as can be imagined. The Telescope,
mining district is located on the west side of this valley. There i»
gold in the gravel thereabouts^ but there is no water to work it^ or to
drink
The southwest comer of the county presents a much more inviting
aspect. The finest portion of its agricultural lands is contained within
this district. San Bernardino valley is located here. This beautiful
valley is fifty miles in length by twenty miles in breadth, bounded
on the east, north, and south by an amphitheatre of lofty mountains,
covered with timber. From these mountains flow inntmierable
streams of water, which cause the whole valley to appear like a vast
garden by the willow, sycamore, and other trees, that grow along
their banks. The Santa Ana, quite a large stream, passes through
the entire length of this valley. As may be readily conceived, a region
thus sheltered and watered must have a delightful climate. Two crops
of grain are gathered regularly in this district The alfalfa grass,
which is a perennial here, is cut six or eight times each year. Most
kinds of fruit and grain flourish here. There are many extensive vine-
yards and orchards, the products of which would be of great value
if they could be sent to market The surrounding mountains contain
abundance of pine, cedar, hemlock, maple, and other kinds of timben
There are only two grist mills and five saw mills in the entire county,
and these are located in this district The present town of San Ber-
nardino, in this valley, on the banks of the Santa Ana, was laid out
by the Mormons in 1847, on the same plan as Great Salt Lake City.
The streets are at right angles, and each lot contains from one to five
acres, so that every house is surrounded with a garden, orchard, and
cornfield. The town consequently extends over a large space. Nearly
all the Mormons abandoned the place in 1856, and went to Salt Lake,
but a few still reside here, who carried on quite an extensive trade with
Utah for several years. South of this valley, to the line of San Diego
county, there are extensive plains and rolling hills, on which are many
farms and ranchos in a high state of cultivation. A canal, or mnja^
some ten miles in length, constructed by the Lugos, years before the
State wa& formed, supplies a portion of this district with water for irri-
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA. 103
gation. All kinds of grain, and many varieties of trmt, are raised in
perfection.
On the north side of the San* Bernardino mountains, and about
thirty-five miles from the town, in a wide plateau, or broad valley, are
Holcombe and Bear valleys, which, from 1860 until 1862, attracted con-
siderable attention. The gold mines, both placer and quartz, found
here, yielded well for a time, after which operations were suspended,
though within the past few months arrangements have been made to
re-open these mines. Important discoveries of placer gold, or auri-
ferous gravel, have been made* on Lytic creek, about ten miles west
from San Bernardino, towards the Los Angeles county line, near the
Gajon pass, which is thought to be a rich gold mining district Near
the Morango pass, about thirty miles southeast from Holcombe valley,
there are large deposits of copper ore. On the Santa Ana river, near
the county seat, there are large beds of marble and alabaster. The
county jail is built of this marble, and all the lime used in the coimty
is made from ii The Temescal tin mines, discovered in 1854 (the
only body of the ores of this metal found in situ, in the State), are
located in the Temescal mountains^ about forty nules southerly from
San Bernardino.
There is but one town, and few good roads in the county. The
whole population does not exceed five thousand eight hundred. Quite
an addition to the former number was made during the past year by
settlers who have purchased lands, which are very cheap in this county.
LOS ANGELES C0U^^T.
This, the most important of the southern counties, is bounded
on the north by Kern; by Santa Barbara, and the Pacific Ocean, on
the veest; the Pacific Ocean, on the south ; and by San Bernardino on
the east. In outline its boundaries are exceedingly irregular. It com-
prises about 2,000,000 acres, nearly two-thirds of which are fit for cul-
tivation or for grazing purposes. It contains about 14^000 inhabitants.
Los Angeles is more progressive than either of the other southern
counties. A ntmiber of ditches for irrigating purposes have been cut
in various districts within the past year or two, which have caused large
tracts of rich land to be brought under cultivation that otherwise were
only fit for pasturage.
The Sierra Madre mountains pass through the county in a north-
west and southeast direction, from thirty to fifty miles from the sea^ not
only forming the divide of the waters, but separating the fertile
pkdns and valleys sldping towards the ocean, from the sterile, hot and
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104 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNU.
sandj desert, whicli stretches eastward towards the Colorado river.
The Santa Susana momitaiDS, a branch of the Coast Bange, also cross
the county, in a nearly east and west direction. Near Fort Tejon, in
the northwestern portion of the county, at a point where the boundaries
of Tidare, Kern, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara counties con-
verge, the Santa Inez and San Bafael mountains, of the Coast Eange,
after traversing Santa Barbara county, unite with the Sierra Nevada,
and form a great cluster of peaks and deep canons. The line of con-
tact between the Coast Bange and Sierra Nevada is traced for many
miles, running east or southeast^ being marked by immense beds of
dark colored, compact lava^ from two hundred to five hundred feet
deep.
The shore line of the counfy extends from Point Duma to Point San
Mateo, about ninety miles, presenting a series of low blufis and long
sandy beaches. The bay of San Pedro forms the only good harbor
there is in the county. On the shores of this bay are located the old
and new towns of San Pedro and Wilmington, both of which are ship-
ping ports of some importance.
The principal rivers in the county are the Los Angeles, San Gabriel,
and Santa Ana^ which flow nearly all the year and connect with the
ocean. There are a number of others which distribute water through
the interior during the wet season, but rarely reach to the sea^ and
are generally dry during the summer.
The section of the coimty on the southwest of the Coast Bange
forms a series of plains and valleys which extend f^om Los Angeles
plain to San Diego couniy, a distance of nearly fifty miles in length,
by an average of nearly twenty miles in width, and comprise the most
beautiful portion of the southern coast. The lower plain, containing
the valleys of Los Angeles, San Pedro, and Anaheim, skirts the ocean,
along which its border is from five to forty feet above the level of high
tide, fringed, in some places, by a narrow, sandy beach. From the sea
line it slopes gradually upward to the base of the foot hills, twenty-five
to forty miles inland. The upper plain, or plateau, contains the San
Fernando, San Bernardino, Cocomongo, Jurapa, and a number of other
extensive valleys.
The soil and climate of the lower plains arc remarkably uniform.
The soil is a light brown, sandy loam, rich in vegetable matter, slightly
more clayey near the bottom of hollows, and more gravelly on the divid-
ing ridges between such hoUows, but exceedingly fertile everywhere.
The sea breeze, which springs up from the northwest between eight and
ten o'clock a. m., during the summer, moderates the temperature and
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CX)UNTIES OP CALIFOBNU. 105
^applies sufficient moisture to prevent the heat being very oppressive.
In the rainy season, which commences sometimes as early as Novem-
ber, never later than January, these plains are covered with wild
grasses, oats and clover, even to the roads, if they are not well traveled.
At this season, a ride over them presents some of the most beautiful
views of southern California scenery. On the one hand are the vine-
yards, orange groves, and apple orchards, clothed in the variegated
tints of autumn, and backed by brown mountain ranges, tipped on
their crests with silvery snow, or fringed with dark pines, forming a
serrated edge against the bright blue sky, while over the sloping plain
all is green and brilliant as a bed of emeralds. On the other hand, the
placid ocean, pale azure in tint, just rippled on its surface by a gentle
breeze, dotted here and there with the white sail of some coasting
craft, and margined by the vividly green plain, forms a series of pic-
tures that a Bierstadt might well delight to copy.
The equable temperature and rich soil of this section of Los An-
geles coimty, render it one of the most attractive portions of South-
em California. Here the grape, of all varieties^ from all countries*
thrives luxuriantly. The orange, lemon, fig, and other semi-tropical
fruits^ also grow to perfection, while the facilities for irrigation enable
the farmer to raise heavy crops of wheats barley, corn, and all the
vegetables.
The City of Los Angeles (formerly Pueblo de Los Angeles — City of
the Angels) is situated in a narrow valley, about three fourths of a mile
wide, forfned on the west by low hills which extend from the Santa
Monica moimtains, ab6ut foriy miles distant, and by the rising land of
the San Gabriel plain on the east, through which the Los Angeles river
winds on its way to the sea^ supplying plenty of water to innumerable
ditches above the town, which are used for irrigating purposes. The
city, one of the oldest in the State, is about twenty-two miles from the
sea shore. The old Mexican portion of it extends up the valley for
nearly a mile, forming the two principal streets. The old adobe houses,
with flat roofe, covered with asphaltum, or hrea, and surrounded by
broad verandahs, or high walls, are gradually being supplanted by
stores and residences more suited to American ideas of domestic and
commercial c#nvenience. Many neat brick dwellings and commodious
stores are to be seen in all directions. These, mingling among the old
Mexican casas, together with the groves of orange, lemon, olive, lime,
fig, pomegranate, peach, apple, and pear, with here and there a tower-
ing, feathery palm, and solid cactus fence around a field of wheat or
barley, form a strange, but pleasing picture, such as can be seen no-
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106 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA«
where outside of Calif omia. Los Angeles city contains about six thou-
sand inhabitants, more than one half of whom are Americans, who own
about three-fourths of all the land in the county, and are rapidly devel-
oping its resources. It is proposed to build a railroad from the city to
Wilmington, and arrangements have been made to light Los Angeles
with gas.
In this county, the semi-tropical fruits are more extensively culti-
vated than in any other. The following particulars relating to two of
the largest orange groves near Los Angeles, will convey an idea of the
proportions and nature of this branch of fruit culture. Mr. Wm. Wolf-
skill, one of the oldest American settlers in the county, has a grove
containing 2,000 trees, which have attained an average height of twenty
feet. These are about sixteen years old, planted from seedlings, there
being no grafted or inoculated trees in the orchard. Their annual pro-
duct averages 1,500 oranges to each tree. They generally ripen in
January, and remain on the tree in a perfect condition for nearly a
year, if not sooner picked. Mr. D. B. Wilson has a grove of 1,650
trees, eight years old, some of which bear as many as 4,000, but the
entire number will average 1,500 oranges each.
The tuna, or gigantic fruit-bearing cactus, grows here to a very
large size, frequently attaining an altitude of fifteen feet, and twenty
feet in diameter. This fruit, about the size of a Bartlett pear, grows
on the margin of the leaf, from thirty to forty each, and is esteemed a
great luxuiy.
There were 6,000,000 grape vines growing in the vicinity of Los
Angeles city, in 1867. The vintage of that year, throughout the
county, amounted to 1,500,000 gallons of wine and 100,000 gallons
brandy, in addition to which a considerable quantity of the choicest
grapes were shipped to San Francisco.
Wilmington, the principal shipping-port of the county, is located
on the southern side of the Los Angeles plain, on the northern extrem-
ity of San Pedro bay, twenty-two miles from the city of Los Angeles.
It was founded in 1858, under the name of New San Pedro, the present
name having been adopted in 1863. It now contains a large number of
stores and dwellings^ and about twelve hundred inhabitants. The
water along the shore, being too shallow to admit ordinary sailing
vessels to enter the estuary, steamers and lighters have been con-
structed, which carry from forty to two hundred tons to a very light
draft. These are used for loading and imloading vessels at the an-
chorage. They come up to the wharf, and through a canal which
passes into the central part of the town, where the military warehouses
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OOCiniES OF OALIFOBKIA* 107
are located — ^this being the headquarters for the ''Southern District
of the Pacific." About a mile north of the landing, are Drum bar-»
rackS) containing accommodations for ten companies of infantry, or
cavaliy. Wilmington, in addition to being the principal port for Los
Angeles county, is also the shipping port for San Bernardino county,
for the Clear Greek mining district, and a (considerable part of the ter*
ritoty of Arizona.
A large portion of the Los Angeles plain north of Wilmington
promises hereafter to be greatly benefited, for horticultural and yinicul-
tural purposes, by means of a ditch and flume, upwards of twelve miles
in length, bringing the water of the San Gabriel river to where it is
required.
Anaheim is the name of a village settled by a company of German
wine-growers^ on a dead-level plain, about tweniy-four miles east of
Wilmington. The location is twelve miles from the Santiago moun-
tainsy eight miles from the sea^ and three miles from the Santa Ana
river.
The growth of this village, now one of the most important wine*
districts in the couniy, is so illustrative of what may be accomplished
by the well directed labors of poor men, that we give the particulars
somewhat in detail, for general information.
In 1857, the site where the village stands was a barren, dry, sandy
plain, similar to such as extends around it, for miles, at the present
time. In the summer of that year, a company of Germanef, acquainted
with the culture of the grape in the ''faderland," purchased 1,265 acres
of the plain, at 12 per acre, to test its adaptation to the raising of the
vine. This land was divided into fifty rectangular lots, of twenty
acres each, with streets between them. A town site was laid out in
the center, with sixty building lots — one for each shareholder, and ten
for public purposes. The lots were all fenced with willows, sycamores
and poplars^ and about ten acres of each planted with vines. A ditch,
seven miles in length was cut to bring water from the Santa Ana
river. The land was cultivated for two years, at the expense of the
company, by hired labor. At the end of that time the lots were dis-
tributed to the shareholders. Those who were so fortunate as to obtain
the best, were required to pay a certain sum to those whose lots were
inferior in location, or any other quality. After all the expenses were
paid, each share of twenty acres fenced, partly planted in vines two
years old, with a town lot, 100 by 200 feet, cost $1,400. Each of these
shares is worth a small fortune to the owner, at the present time, and
will be worth a great deal more a few years hence. There are nearly
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108 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNLL
1,000,000 vines growing in this village, about 760,000 of which bear
fruii There are also 10,000 fruit-trees of various kinds, the whole
place resembling a forest and flower-garden, divided into squares with
fences of willow, poplar, and sycamore, which shelter the fruit from
every wind. Nearly every lot contains a comfortable homestead, and
the inhabitants of the village number about four hundred. There is a
good public school, several stores, and a post-office in the town, but
neither a lawyer, doctor, nor minister. There are hundreds of places
in the southern counties where such villages might be founded, with
equal or even greater advantages.
The town of San Juan Capistrano, from the old mission of that
name located here, is in striking contrast to the flourishing village of
Anaheim, from which it is distant about thirty miles on the main road,
between Los Angeles and San Diego. The valley in which this town
is situated, is about nine miles in length by something less than a mile
wide. The San Juan, a never-failing stream, passing through its
entire length, furnishes an abundant supply of water. The rich
grasses^ fine timber, and dense underbrush, that cover the whole face
of the valley, afford evidence of the richness of the soil, but it is almost
wholly uncidtivated. The popidation of the town numbers about six
hundred, of whom four hundred aie Mexicans and native Califomians,
and about two hundred Indians. There are not more than half a dozen
Americans or Europeans in the place ; these are generally thrifiy and
prosperous. This is the most thoroughly Mexican town in the State,
the houses being built of adobe, with low flat roofs, while the streets
are laid out without much regard to regularity. The only apparent
employment of the men is horse-racing, or practising with the reata.
The women are rarely seen, except at the fandango or church. The
children literally swarm in the streets, and are of all hues, except that
of the lily; they wear little or no clothing.
The San Gabriel township, which embraces upwards of 75,000
acres of the table-lands between Los Angeles and San Bernardino, is
extremely well adapted to the growth of the vine and semi-tropical
fruits. There are upwards of 800,000 vines under cultivation in this
township, besides thousands of orange, lemon, olive, walnut, almond,
and other fruit-trees. It is estimated that there were, at the close of
1867, twenty-five thousand acres of unoccupied land in this township,
suitable for cultivation, and conveniently located for irrigation.
There is another belt of country east of the above, about ten miles
vride by about forty mUes in length, extending into San Bernardino
county, which is remarkably well adapted for the cidtivation of the
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GOUKTIES OF GALIF0BN1JL 109
Tine and semi-tropical fruits. It is warm, and sheltered from the cool
sea-breeze f the soU is rich and deep, and could be conveniently irri-
gated. In this district, about twenty-four miles east from tha city of
Los Angeles, connected by good roads, is the valley of San Jose — a
very fine agricidtural district in the foot-hills, which extends to the
plains in El Chino, and into the adjoining county about twenty miles.
The Puente district forms a portion of this valley, the soil of which is
a red loam on the hill sides, but a nearly black, sandy clay on the bot-
tom. It is watered by the San Gabriel and San Jose rivers, and by
nxunerous tributaries that have their source among the snow-covered
peaks of the Sierra Nevada. This valley produces very fine wheat and
barley, as well as grapes, apples, and peaches.
A great many mulberry trees have been planted in this county during
the past year, for the purpose of raising silk worms, which thrive in a
climate in which the orange, lemon, and fig grow to perfection. Dr.
De Witt Franklin raised both the Japanese and Chinese silk worm
during 1867, and there is little room to doubt the success of the silk
cidture here.
Northerly from the city of Los Angeles about seventy miles, on the
eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, bordering on Kern county, there
are a number of valleys and many broad, fertile canons, equal in
beauty to any portion of the State. The valley in which Fort Tejon
is located is one of such. Sheltered from the hot winds of the desert
by mountains four thousand to five thousand feet high, nothing can
exceed it in picturesque and rural beauty. Huge old oaks cast their
shadows upon the greensward, and miles of the rich foliage of the
wild vine drape the banks of the stream of clear water that courses
through the Canada de las Uvas.
The first gold known to have been found in the State, was obtained,
in 1833, in the valley of Santa Clara, on the western border of this
county. Other gold mines of some importance have been discovered
at various points in the Sierra Madre mountains, particularly on the
eastern border of the county. Silver mines are in course of develop-
ment in the Santa Susana mountains, about twenty miles north from
San Fernando, and in the Soledad pass. Copper mines have been par-
tially explored in the Soledad mountains and pass, about fifty miles
north of Los Angeles. Near Anaheim, marble and coal are known to
exist.
About seven miles west of Los Angeles there are immense deposits
of petroleum and asphaltum. Over a space of twenty acres, in this
locality, petroleum, of the consistency and color of coal tar, issues
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throngli a nnmber of holes from three to eight inches in diameter, and
forms pools of tar in which the gas generated at the same time creates
great bladders, that burst with a loud noise. It soon hardens, on
exposure, when it forms asphaltum, or irea, as it is called here, or
maltha, as it is termed by men of science. There are a great many
other places in this county where these materials are found in abun-
dance. In the Canada de la Brea, about twenty miles east from Los
Angeles, the petroleum oozes from the hill side, and has formed im-
mense deposits of asphaltum in the canon. At several places around
the estero of San Pedro, the same material flows through the banks
near the sea beach. Considerable oil has been made from petroleum
obtained in the San Fernando district. Asphaltum is shipped in large
quantities to San Francisco from deposits near the coast, and experi-
ments are being made to test its adaptability for fneL
There are good roads in nearly all parts of Los Angeles, which con-
nect it with the adjoining counties. With railroad facilities, and a
larger population, its resources will be immensely increased.
SANTA BABBARA COUNTY.
Santa Barbara county embraces the angle of the coast at Point Con-
cepcion, whence it trends nearly north forty miles, and easterly one
himdred and twenty miles. It is the only county in the State having
so large a coast line facing towards the south. This peculiarity in its
topography exerts a great influence oyer the climate and productions
of this county, and those south and east of ii North of Point Con-
cepcion the coast, during the summer is swept by cold fog bearing
winds from the northwest, and by violent rain storms from the south
during the winter. South of that point there is scarcely any fog, and
it is both drier and warmer than to the north. Snow rarely falls on
the highest mountains — ^frost is almost unknown — and it seldom rains
from May to November.
The whole coimty, which is about one hundred and twenty miles in
length, and about forty miles in average breadth, lies on the west of the
main divide of the coast range. It contains about 1,500,000 acres,
nearly one half of which are mountainous, and unfit for cultivation,
but well adapted for cattle and sheep raising.
The Santa Inez branch of the coast motmtains is entirely in this
coimty, traversing it from east to west, terminating at Point Concep-
cion. The Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains divide it from
Los Angeles county on the southeast. Between these ranges, and at
iheir base along the coast, there are a number of exceedingly beauti-
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA, 111
fol and fertile valleys, most of them being under cultiyation where
water can be obtained for irrigation, bnt no ditches or reservoirs have
been made to obtain an additional supply of this element, although suf-
ficient to irrigate the entire couniy runs to waste.
The Santa Inez river traverses the county from east to west upwards
of one hundred miles^ emptying into the Pacific Ocean at Jesus Maria,
in this county. It has more the character of a creek than a river, for
about ten miles from the sea. The San Buenaventura rises near the
junction of the San Eafael and Santa Inez mountains, in the central
part of the county, and flows nearly due south into the Santa Barbara
channel, at the old Mission of San Buenaventura. The Santa Clara
has its source in Los Angeles, but flows nearly west, across Santa Bar*
bara couniy, entering the sea three miles southeast of San Buenaven-
tura. The Cuyama, or Santa Maria, is quite a stream, having its source
near the Canada de las Uvas in the Sierra Nevada. It forms the north-
em boundary line of the county for more than one hundred miles,
extending a few miles north of Point Sal to near Fort Tejon. There are
a great many tributaries to each of these streams, which contain water
during the year. The main river sinks into the sand in several places
near its mouth. Extending east from Point Concepcion a hundred
miles along the sea shore, on the south side of the Santa Inez moun-
tains^ there is a belt of land about three miles wide, the climate of
which is almost tropical and unsurpassed by that of any other portion
of the State.
There is but little timber in any part of the county, except oak,
willow, and sycamore, which grow on the plains or in the valleys.
The highest mountains being covered with grass or wild oats during
the winter and spring, furnish nutritious pasturage for sheep and
cattle during the entire year. In the western portion of the county,
the mountains are much lower than they are on the east, where the
Sierra Nevada and Coast Bange unite. The culminating peak at the
junction. Mount Pinos, is nearly seven thousand five hundred feet high.
In this vicinity there are forests of pine and redwood.
The Santa Inez valley, in which the old mission of that name is
located, is vety beautiful and fertile. The old mission buildings remain
in good preservation, the bells still hanging in the belfry, calling the
worshippers to service. This valley, like all the others on this part of
the coasi^ has a series of terraces formed by successive elevations of
the land within the present geological era. The lowest of these three
terraces^ in the Santa Inez valley, is about twenty-five feet above the
level of the river; the second is forty-five feet, and the third is ninety-five
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112 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
feet above the present level of the river, which evidently cut them alL
To the west of the town of Santa Barbara^ on the south side of the
Santa Inez mountains, the coast line forms a terrace extending from
Santa Barbara to the base of .the Gaviota pass, eighty feet above the
ocean.
The town of Santa Barbara is situated on the shore of the bay, on
a headland to the west of which there is a good lighthouse. It is
nearly in the center of the county, on the southern coast line. The
houses^ which are nearly all built of adobe, and roofed with red tiles^
in the old Mexican style, extend continuously from the shore, for
about a mile inland. It contains about 1,600 inhabitants, nearly 1,200
of whom are Mexicans and native Califomians, the others being chiefly
Americans and Europeans. There is one hotel and numerous stores.
A good wharf has been built, but it is not far enough out from the
shore for vessels to load or unload without boats. About a mile and
a half from the shore, further up the valley, on an eminence which
commands a fine view of the surrounding coimtry and of a wide ex-
panse of ocean, stands the old mission, from which the town and
coimty derive their name. It is in a good state of preservation, ser-
vice being still performed in it by the Catholic pastor. There is con-
siderable land under cultivation in this fine valley, but little in other
parts of the couniy. The orange, lemon, grape, olive, fig, and the
cereals^ are produced here.
At the hacienda of Semar del Cannello, near Montecita^ about
three miles east of Santa Barbara, on the sea-coast, is the largest
grape-vine in the State — ^probably the largest on the American conti-
nent. This vine is of the old mission, or Los Angeles variety. It was
planted about forty-three years ago, by Maria Marcilina Felix, a Mexi-
can woman, who died there in 1865, at the age of 107. The vine meas-
ures nearly twelve inches in diameter at four feet from the ground; at
two feet higher, the stem is divided, and its branches are supported
by a rude treUis-work, forming a splendid bower, which covers an area
of 10,000 square feet It annually produces about 12,000 pounds of
grapes. The bunches are generally from fifteen to eighteen inches
long, and weigh from six to seven poimds each. There is a smaller
vine near by, being about ten years old, that produces annually
from 900 to 1,200 bunches. No fertilizer is used about these vines,
excepting that the cuttings are burned, and their ashes placed in the
soil over the roots. Irrigation is employed very sparingly, and only at
the time when the ashes are used. No better proof of the adaptability
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COUNTIES CfP CALIFOBNIA. 113
of the soil and climate of this part of the coast for the culture of the
grape can be required.
East of Santa Barbara^ there is a level plain, averaging two miles
wide, and about fifteen miles in length, which is nearly all in a good
state of ctdtivation. Some of the finest barley raised in the State is
produced on this plain, and most kinds of fruit are also cultivated.
Monticito and Carpenteria are both located on this plain. Siticoy and
Santa Clara valleys have a frontage on the coast of sixteen miles, and
extend inland about forty miles, gradually narrowing, and are culti-
vated to some exteni These valleys and plains produce immense
quantities of wild mustard, which grows to the size of small trees in
some localities. Wild bees are also very numerous^ yielding a great
deal of honey and wax. These articles are among the staple exports of
the county. A large number of mulberry trees have been planted
within the past few years, for propagating the silk-worm, which is
found to thrive well in this county. Its present agricultural products
are of comparatively little importance, not more than 15,000 acres of
land being under cultivation. The entire county contains but one
grist-mill, and that with only one set of stones, about two hundred
tons of flour being annually imported from San Francisco. The chief
products are cattle and sheep. It is one of the most important grazing
counties in the State. As recently as 1864^ thousands of cattle were
slaughtered for their hides and tallow, but they have increased in
value two hundred per cent since then, owing to the increasing ctdti-
vation of land in other counties. Large numbers of horses raised here
are sent to Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona,
and Texas. Messrs. A. and T. B. Dibblee, and CoL W. W. Hollister,
of San Francisco, graze 31,500 sheep upon 120,000 acres of land, near
Point Concepcion. These sheep are chiefly Spanish merinos and their
grades, bred with imported bucks. The wool clip from this flock, for
1867, amounted to 106,000 poimds. Hollister & Cooper, on ranchoa
adjoining the above have 20,000 sheep of the same chiwracter of breed.
There are numerous smaller flocks in other portions of the county, and
on the islands off the coast, amounting in the aggregate to 185,000.
The want of population is the only impediment to the development of
its resources; but it is probable that this defect will be remedied to
some extent during 1868, as roads have been laid out to connect with
Kern and Inyo counties.
The peculiarly mountainous character of the county^ renders it
somewhat difficult and expensive to make good roads of any length.
That which crosses the Santa Inez mountaincf, to Santa Barbara^ is very
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114 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
romantic and sinnous. It winds up steep mountains by zig-zags, and
crosses sandy creeks and marshy valleys, until it reaches the Gaviota
pass — a natural chasm, about sixiy feet wide, through a lofty chain
of mountains, reaching within a mile of the sea. The sides of this
pass are nearly perpendicular walls of solid rock, upwards of three
hundred feet high. From this pass, the road winds at the base of
these mountains, for nearly twenty miles along the sea beach. This is
a delightful trip during the summer — ^the white-crested billows of the
Pacific curling and seething about the horse's feet; and the cool sea-
breeze, how refreshing — after leaving the hot and dusiy roads over the
mountains. But it is not quite so agreeable at night, during the
winter, when the wind has lashed the waves into fury; it is then not a
little dangerous to fail to make the trip between the tides.
Three miles southeast of Carpenteria, near Mount Hoar, the sea-
shore is covered with a .thick deposit of asphaltum, which oozes from
the slaty bank in the form of thick tar, covering the beach and con-
creting the sand and pebbles as hard as rock, running under the sea, in
places where the surface has become hardened and smooth. There are
similar deposits of this mineral along the sea-shore in this and Los
Angeles couniy, from which about two thousand tons of asphaltum are
annually collected and shipped to San Francisco.
Opposite La Golita and Positas ranchos, in the roadstead of Santa
Barbara, and extending coastwise as far as the ''Bincon," the sea is
covered with an iridescent film of oil, which finds its way to the
surface at numerous points, over an extent of at least twenty miles,
escaping, probably, from the outcropping edges of the strata.
There are numerous oil-springs, and petroleum deposits, in all of
the southern counties.
Sulphur and salt are also obtained along the coast in Santa Bar-
bara county; and some gold and copper have been found in the valley
of the Santa Liez.
There are only three towns in the county: Santa Barbara^ the
county seat ; San Buenaventura, thirty miles east ; and Santa Liez^
forty miles north-west. The population of the county is about 6,000,
of whom 1,700 are children imder fifteen years of age. Considerably
more than one half of the adult population are Mexicans and native
Califomians.
SAN LXnS OBISPO COUNTY.
San Luis Obispo county is bounded on the north by Monterey, on
the east by Kern, on the south by Santa Barbara county, and on the'
west by the Pacific ocean. It contains about 1,600,000 acres, nearly
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA. 115
1,000,000 acres of which are monntainotis, less than 200,000 xbeing fit
for agricultural purposes, but nearly the entire county is adapted for
grazing, to which most of it is applied. Only 12,000 acres of land were
under ctdtivation in 1867. The population of the couniy does not
exceed 3,500, of whom nearly 1,200 are children under fifteen years of
age. Three-fourths of the entire number are Mexicans and native
Califomians. The greater portion of the land being held by virtue of
Mexican grants, in large ranches, which are mainly devoted to cattle
and sheep raising, prevents the development of the resources of the
couniy. There are only three small towns in it, with but indifferent
roads to connect them. One good stage road, from Monterey, passes
through the county to Santa [Barbara. San Luis Obispo, the county
seat, has a population of about one thousand ; San Miguel, distant
foriy-one miles, has one hundred and fifty inhabitants ; San Simeon,
thirty-seven miles northwest, has two hundred inhabitants; all the rest
of the poptdation are scattered throughout the mountains and valleys.
The valley of San Lids Obispo, on which the mission that gives
name to the town and county is situated, extends in a nearly northwest
and southeast direction from Estero bay to the Arroyo Grande, in the
Santa Lucia mountains, a distance of nearly twenty miles, and is from
three to five miles wide. The Canadas de los Osas and de las Piedras
branch from this valley — ^the greater portion of which is good agricul-
tural land.
A range of mountains, which are nearly two thousand three hun-
dred feet high on the north, but decrease to about one thousand feet
where they unite with the Santa Lucia range, a little south of the
Arroyo Grande, extends from the coast line and forms a wide, funnel-
shaped reservoir for the sea breeze, which, passing through to the
low bills further inland, materially influences the climate and vegeta-
tion of this couniy. The San Luis Obispo creek, which flows through
a greater portion of the valley, empties into the bay below the port of
San Liuis Obispo. The town is situated nine miles inland in a small
valley, surrounded by low hills, between the Coast Kange and the sea.
The Santa Marguerita valley is a broad plateau on the northeastern
side of the Santa Lucia mountains, about twenty miles northeast of
San Luis Obispo. This extensive plateau is nearly twelve hundred feet
above the sea, and much more thickly timbered than the lower valleys.
Oak, pine, manzanita^ and other trees peculiar to the California
Alpine regions, grow here to perfection, showing that there is more
moisture in the air than in the lower districts. A branch of the Salinas
river passes through this valley.
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116 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
The Salinas valley is another extensive agricultural district. Hie
main branch of the Salinas river, which has its source among the
southeastern peaks of the Santa Lucia^ flows through this vallej for a
distance of tweniy-five to thirty miles, when it enters Monterey county.
There is some good land along this great valley and in others which
branch' from it to the east and west
On the south side of the Santa Lucia range of mountains, the tem-
perature is more than ten degrees warmer than it is on the north.
The effect of this difference is seen in the vegetation ; the grasses are
green and fresh on the south side for more than a month after those on
the north side are dried and withered. This is due to the form of the
San Luis Obispo vaUey, already mentioned.
The Paso Bobles, is the name of a very large rancho on the eastern
slope of the Santa Lucia mountains, about twenty miles north of San
Luis Obispo. This rancho embraces a fine level plain containing
nearly ten square miles, thickly studded with magnificent live oaks.
Being quite free from underbrush, during the spring, when the grass
is green, it has the appearance of a splendid park. Near the ranch
house, or hotel, are the Paso Bobles springs. Those nearest the house
are almost scalding hot ; about a mile to the north is one of icy
coldness, but, like the hot ones, highly charged with sulphur. A short
distance from these is a mud spring which has an aperture nearly two
feet in diameter through which flows a stream of hot, thick, liquid,
black, slimy mud, which is said to be effective in the cure of rheuma-
tism. Hot mineral springs exist at several other localities in this
county. There are a number of other valleys connected with the great
valley of the Cuyama, extending along the southern border of the
couniy.
With a larger population, and greater facilities for sending the pro-
ducts of the land to a market, the importance of this county might be
materially increased. Its present exports consist of hides and wool.
Cattle, horses, hogs and sheep are its staple products, but grain,
fruits, and vegetables, are raised in sufficient quantities for home con-
sumption— ^transportation being too expensive to send any of them to
market.
In 1863, considerable excitement was created by the discovery of a
deposit of cinnabar in the dividing ridge of the Santa Lucia mountains,
about fifteen miles from San Simeon bay. Deposits of copper ore
have been found in the Coast Bange in several localities, and gold and
silver have also been discovered in the mountains in the eastern portion
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNU. 117
of the county. None- of the mineral resources of the comity have
been developed.
EERN COUNTY.
This county was organized in 1866. It comprises portions of the
Sierra Nevada^ the Coast Bange, the central valley between them, and
of the desert-valley lying east of the Sierras, and contains nearly two
thirds of the territory previously included in Tulare county. But for
its somewhat inaccessible position — ^walled in by lofty mountains at all
points, except the north — ^Eem would soon become one of the most im»
portant of the interior counties. It contains valuable gold mines, both
quartz and placer, large deposits of salt, sulphur, petroleum and other
minerals; fine timber, good agricultural lands, which are well watered
by numerous streams that flow from the mountains, and a large extent
of grazing country. It is bounded on the north by Tulare; east, by
San Bernardino; south, by Los Angeles; and west, by San Luis
Obispo. It comprises about 1,500,000 acres, nearly one half of which
is adapted for agricultural and grazing purposes, although only fifteen
thousand acres were under cultivation in the summer of 1867. Want of
roads, distance from market, a sparse population — there being less
than 3,500 in the entire county — causes farming to be less attended to
than mining and sheep raising.
From Fort Tejon, on the southern extremity of the county, to the
Kern river, a distance of about forty miles along the western border,
the county, for about ten miles from the Coast Eange, is covered with
salt marshes, brine, and petroleum springs, which, in a locality more
favored with roads, would be valuable.
About ten miles from the mouth of the Canada de las IJvas, which
heads near the fort, there are numerous salt springs, where considerable
quantities of that mineral are manufactured. The petroleum and
asphaltum deposits extend from the San Emidio canon, on the eastern
comer of Santa Barbara county, nearly forty miles to the north, to
Buena Vista lake, (so named by the Spaniards in 1806,) a sheet of
alkaline water about seven miles long and two miles wide. The most
extensive of these deposits, is about eighteen miles south-east of the
lake. At this point, there is one spring of maltha, or tarry petroleum,
nearly an acre in extent, in the center of which the viscid material is
constantly agitated by the escape of gas from below. Around the
edge of this pool, the maltha has hardened into stony asphaltum, in
which are the remains of various kmds of beasts, birds, and reptiles,
whose feet had touched the sticky mass, from which they could not ex-
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118 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
tricate themselves. Works were erected at this place, in 1864 to dis-
til oil for the San Francisco market. The company made several
thousand gallons of good oil, but it cost more to send it to market than
oil could be procured for from the Eastern States. This long belt of oil-
springs lies parallel to those on the coast line in Santa Barbara county,
from which they are separated by the coast ranges.
Around the great plain which forms the center of this county, on all
sides except the north, are ranges of exceedingly lofty mountains, from
eight thousand to ten thousand feet high — the buttresses of the Sierra
Nevada, and spurs of the Coast Kange, projecting in some places nearly
€k;ross the plain. There is only one pass over these mountains to the
west-^the Paso Robles, four thousand eight hundred feet high. On the
south is the Tejon pass, five thousand two hundred and eighty-five feet
above the sea level. The higher peaks of these mountains are covered
with snow during the winter and spring. The subordinate ranges are
weU timbered with oak, pine and fir.
The San Emidio canon, about twenty miles west of the Canada de
lasTJvas, which heads between Mount Pinos and Mount El Dorado, two
of the highest peaks in the southern division of the Coast Kange,
nearly 8,000 feet high, enters this plain on the south-west Its waters
pass through a gorge nearly 2,000 feet deep, cut in beds of sand and
gravel, which form terraces several miles broad on the top, showing
how much the land of this portion of the coast has been elevated
within the present geological era.
Nearly all of the western portion of the county is valueless, for agri-
cultural purposes. On the south and east, the low hills, and many
of the mountains, are covered with a luxuriant crop of grasses and
shrubbery.
Bounding the salt plain on the east, is a spur of the Sierra Nevada
called the Te-hatch-ay-pah mountains, which is nearly 8,000 feet high.
The pass over these mountains is upwards of 4000ieet above the sea
level. To the east of this spur, is a fine, fertile, well-timbered valley,
of the same name, about eight miles in length by three miles in width,
completely surrounded by mountains from 7,000 to 8,000 feet high.
It contains a small lake of extremely salt water from which quantities
of fine salt are manufactured by solar evaporation — one hundred tons
having been thus obtained in 1867. The stage road between Los An-
geles and Owens' valley, Inyo county, passes through this beautiful
place. To the north of this mountain spur, is Joe Walker's valley,
named in honor of the first settler in the county, who arrived in 1835.
This valley, like that just described, is surrounded by lofty moun-
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• COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA. 119
tains. It contains about ten square miles of excellent land, which
yields from forty to sixty bushels of wheat, or from fifty to sixty bushels
of com, or sixiy bushels of barley to the acre. All kinds of vegetables
and hardy fruits grow luxuriantly. The hills are well timbered, and
there is an abundant supply of pure water. There are quite a number
of such valleys in various parts of the county.
The valley of the south fork of the Kern river, about eight miles
north of Havilah, the county seat, is one of the finest in the county,
containing about forty square miles of exceedingly rich soil, well
watered and timbered. Linn's valley, a few miles to the south, is
another beautiful place for a thrifty community. About foriy families
have settled in this valley within the past three years, who cultivate
about two thousand acres. The climate of this valley is very agree-
able— scarcely ever exceeding 90^ during the summer or 5(P during the
winter. A grist and saw mill were erected here during 1867.
The hills and rivers along the entire eastern and northern portion
of the county are rich in auriferous quartz and placer gold, which give
employment to nearly all the population.
Kern river, from which the county derives its name is a consid-
erable stream that passes nearly across it from east to west, entering
it near Walker's pass on the east, and emptying into Goose lake at
the base of the Coast Range on the west, receiving numerous tribu-
taries, and watering an extensive agricultural district in its progress.
This fine river was called the Kio Bravo by the Mexicans. Much of
the land in this section of the county is well adapted for the cultivation
of cotton, and numerous experiments have demonstrated this. Several
fields containing from twenty to thirty acres each were planted here in
1865, producing good crops, which were sold for full prices, for use at
the Oakland Cotton Mills, but the cost of labor and transportation
rendered it less profitable than other crops.
Havilah, named from a place mentioned in Genesis, where the first
allusion is made to a land of gold, is the chief town in the couniy, and
contains about eight hundred inhabitants, nearly all of whom are Amer-
icans— there being very few Mexicans and Europeans.
There are numerous mining districts in the mountains and along
the creeks, near which villages have been established, and there
are good roads from place to place. Considerable quantities of both
placer and quartz gold are obtained, this being the most important
mining cotmty in the southern portion of the State. It contains seven-
teen quartz mills, and about twelve hundred of the inhabitants are
engaged in mining.
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120 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
Kemville is one of the most thriving towns in the county. There
are upwards of a dozen important quartz ledges within a mile or two
of the place, on several of which extensive mills have been in opera-
tion for two or three years — the quartz paying steadily and well,
The valleys and flats are cultivated to an extent sufficient to supply
the local demand, but there is only one grist mill in the county. A
large number of cattle and sheep are raised, and considerable lum-
ber is cut. There are five saw mills in the county, capable of cutting
30, 000 feet per day.
The resources of this county will not be developed until a railroad
shall connect the southern counties with San Francisco, the great ceru
tral market for the coast.
COAST COUNTIES.
MONTEREY COUNTY.
Monterey county is the southernmost of the coast counties, accord-
ing to the division of the State adopted in describing its topography.
It is bounded on the south by the Pacific ocean, and San Luis Obispo
county, on the east by Fresno and Merced counties, on the north by
Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, on the west by the Pacific ocean.
It averages nearly eighty miles in length, by about fifty miles in width,
and contains about 2,500,000 acres. Seven hundred thousand acres
are good agricultural land — ^less than fifty thousand of which were under
cultivation in the summer of 1867. The greater portion of the county
is devoted to cattle and sheep raising, much of the best land being still
occupied by the original Mexican grantees or their assigns.
The population, at the close of 1867, is estimated at eight thousand
five hundred, of whom nearly two thousand five hundred are children
under fifteen years of age. There are a large number of Mexicans and
native Califomians in the county, but many large ranchos have been
purchased by Americans during the past few years and subdivided into
farms. This has caused many of the natives and Mexicans to lose their
occupation as herders and shepherds.
The prominent features in the topography of this county, are the
three branches of the coast mountains, which extend through it in a
northwesterly direction, nearly parallel with each other and with the
coast, dividing it into three belts of valleys and two of mountains.
The Santa Lucia range extends along the coast line in an almost un-
broken chain of lofty hills, from Mount San Francisquito, on the south
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COUNTIES OP CAUFOBNIA. 121
of the bay of Monterey, to Eatero bay, in San Luis Obispo county, a
distance of nearly one hundred and fifiy miles. On the east of this
range lies the great Salinas valley, and its branches. The Gtavilan
mountains separate this valley from the valley of San Benito and its
branches, which are bounded by the main range of the coast moun-
tains, of which Pacheco peak, in the northern comer of the county, is
two thousand eight hundred and forty-five feet high — the general
average of the altitude of the three ranges being from one thousand
five hundred to two thousand feet. As will readily be conceived, such
a configuration of the land in a section of the coast where the heavy
dews and fogs from the ocean prevail during the summer, has a very
beneficial influence upon vegetation. Nearly the whole of the eastern
slopes is well timbered. The only pinery on the southern coast is in
this county. The greater portion of the best agricultural land lies in
the long valleys and table lands between these mountains. Most of the
soil in the uplands is sandy or gravelly, but produces large crops of
the cereals or fruits, when irrigated. The mountains, in a wide dis-
trict on the northwestern side of the county, are of granite formation,
which is very unusual in the coast range. This has a material influence
on the soil of that section.
The Salinas river, after flowing through San Luis Obispo county,
enters Monterey a few miles south of the old mission of San Miguel,
nearly in the center of the southern border of the county, meanders
through the Salinas valley for about ninety miles, and empties into the
bay of Monterey, forming a najrigable river for a short distance.
The San Benito river rises among the mountains near the Panoche
Grande, one of the culminating peaks of the Coast Bange, nearly in
the center of the eastern border of the county, and flows for about
sixty miles to the northwest, where it unites with the Pajaro, at the
southern extremity of Santa Clara county.
The Pajaro river separates this county from Santa Cruz, and Santa
Clara counties, and flows about forty miles in a westerly direction,
until it enters Monterey bay.
The Carmel is an inconsiderable stream, which drains the hilly
country nort}i and east of the northern termination of the Santa Lucia
mountain^ and empties into Carmel bay. These are all the rivers of
any importance in the county.
Among the most important of its valleys, are the Pajaro, which ex-
tends from the shore of the bay of Monterey to the foot of the Gavilan
mountains, about ten miles, ranging from six to eight miles in width,
and divided nearly in the center by the Pajaro river. This valley con-
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122 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIPORNLL
tains about ninety-six square miles, only one half of which is in this
couniy. This land is exceedingly fertile, and almost level. On either
side of it, for several miles, there is a range of low, smoothly rounded
hills, well watered by numerous creeks, and but little less fertile than
the bottom-land, which produces fine crops of wild oats, bunch grass,
and a variety of clover and native grasses, where not under cultivation.
The grape, peach, apple, wheat, com, barley, and aU the hardy fruits,
grain and vegetables, thrive remarkably well in this soil. The black
soil of the Pajaro has become famous for the wheat and potatoes it pro-
duces. The fogs and dews from the ocean are almost equal to rain, on
the crops in this vaUey. Nearly the whole of this section has been
settled by American and European farmers, and is in a high state of
cultivation. Well tilled farms occupy the site of many an old cattle-
rancho, and, in place of the solitary old adobe casa^ the valley is
now dotted with cheerful rural villages, school-houses and churches.
Surrounded by the three great branches of the Coast Kange; the foot-
hills, covered with fleecy flocks and herds of cattle ; the lower ranges,
thickly timbered with live oak, redwood, pine, and the beautiful ma-
drona; the culminating peaks, brown, bleak and bare — ^the whole forms
a delightful scene of agricultural thrift and prosperity. This beautiful
valley was wholly uncultivated prior to 1860.
The Salinas plains extend south-east from the boundaries of the
Pajaro valley^ They cover an area of nearly 1,600 square miles, and
contain many i^ousand acres of excellent grazing land. At present,
most of it is covered by Spanish or Mexican grants, in large bodies,
and is used for sheep and cattle ranges.
This couniy, in 1860, contained more sheep than any other county
in the United States — and 100,000 cattle. They are not as numer-
ous at present, but the breeds have been greatly improved, and the
value more than doubled. The wool-clip for 1867, exceeded 350,000
pounds. There are few counties as well adapted for sheep-raising
as Monterey county. The yearly increase of the flocks is from ninety
to one hundred and ten per cent No disease is known. The hills in
the Ooast Eange afford pasturage, in seasons when the plains and val-
leys suffer from drought At the close of 1867 there were 300,000
sheep in Monterey county, the most of which were of imported, or of
improved breeds.
The Valley of San Juan lies to the east of the San Benito, a spur of
the Gavilan mountains, twelve miles east of Watsonville. It contains
about twenty-five square miles of good bottom land, with a large tract
of grassy hills adjoining. On the southeast side, on an elevation of
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COUNTIES OP CAMFOBNIA. 123
about fifty feet, oyerlooking the whole valley, stands the old mission of
San Jnan Bautista.
Carmel valley, on the extreme northwest, about three miles from
the town of Monterey, and the San Antonio valley on the south, both
sites of old missions, are famous for fruits. Figs, grapes, peaches,
olives, etc., are cultivated, as well as the cereals.
The town of Monterey, the county seat, derives its name from
Gaspar de Zunniga, Count de Monte Key, given by Viscayno, the dis-
coverer of the bay, in 1603. It is situated in a little nook of the moun-
tains, on the southern shore of the bay, near its western extremity.
Like all other Mexican towns, the streets are irregular, and most of
the houses are built of adobes, over which, in this place, the most
charming flowers grow from the ground to the roof — almost every
house being surrounded by a garden. The beautiful Monterey cypress,
{cupr€88U8 macrocarpus,) a favorite ornamental tree, is peculiar to this
locality. It has not been found in any other part of the State, except
where transplanted. On the eastern slope of the hills, the California
laurel (oreodaphne CcUi/ornica) and the madrone, {arbutus menziesiiy) are
large and numerous.
Pajaro, twenty miles north; Natividad, twenty-five miles northeast;
San Juan, thirty-one miles northeasterly; Salinas, sixteen miles east;
and San Antonio, seventy-five miles southeast ; are each considerable
towns, containing from one hundred to nine hundred inhabitants.
There are good roads connecting these towns with Monterey. When
the projected railroad between Watsonville, an important town in Santa
Cruz coimty, situated on the Pajaro river, and San Jose, in Santa Clara
county, shall be completed, and Monterey county is connected with San
Francisco by iron bonds, much of the land now used for grazing will
become too valuable for that purpose, and will be converted into grain
fields, for which most of it is well adapted. Watsonville is about fifty
miles from San Jos^, and one hundred miles from San Francisco.
At present, Monterey county exports a large quantity of butter and
cheese, grain, fruits and vegetables. Quite an important source of
wealth to the county are the whale and other fisheries in the bay, and
along the coast. Large quantities of pure white sand is shipped from
the bay for the glass works at San Francisco, and for sprinkling the
imitation stone buildings in that city. Monterey, also contains veins
of gold and silver bearing quartz, of copper, lead and quicksilver
ores, of asphaltum, marble, and of numerous minerals of commercial
value, which will probably pay for development when transportation
shall be more convenient, and labor less expensive than at present.
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124 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY.
Santa Cruz county is situated on the northern side of the bay of
Monterey. It is one of the smallest counties in the State, but second in
the importance of its manufactures, only to San Francisco. In outline,
it is long and narrow, being about fif iy miles in length, by from eight to
thirteen miles wide. Its coast-line measures about fifty miles. The
whole of the county lies between the summits of the Santa Cruz or
Gavilan mountains and the sea. It is one of the most mountainous of
the coast counties. Within an area of about 500 square miles, or
320,000 acres, it contains 40,000 acres of the richest bottom lands along
the valleys of the various streams that pass through it, and 50, 000 acres
of fine agricultural land, which form the terraced plateaus, caused by
the repeated uprisings of the land. These plateaus extend along the
coast, the entire length of the county, and reach inland to the limits of
the timber. This raised land varies in fertility, but is generally pro-
ductive. The greater portion of the couniy — 230,000 acres — consists of
mountain ranges, much of which is adapted to grazing, and a large
proportion is densely timbered with magnificent forests of redwood,
oak, and pine.
This county is bounded on the north by San Mateo county ; on the
south, by the bay and county of Monterey; on the east, by Santa Clara
county; and on the west, by the Pacific ocean. Its population, nearly
all of whom are Americans, chiefly from the New England States,
numbers about 11,000. In 1860, there were less than 5,000. Most of
the best land in the county was originally covered by Spanish and
Mexican grants, but these have been purchased by men of means, and
subdivided into farms, which is the main cause of the rapid develop-
ment of its resources.
The county is watered by several never-failing streams, which run
from the mountains to the ocean. They are all short, with consider-
able fall, creating power sufficient for an almost unlimited number of
water-wheels, to drive machinery. The chief of these rivers are the
San Lorenzo, which passes through the county nearly in its center and
empties into the bay of Monterey, near the town of Santa Cruz ; the
Soquel, which enters the bay three miles further south ; the Aptos ;
the Sulsipuedes; and, still further south, the Pajaro, (bird,) passing
between this and Monterey counties; and the Pescadero. The climate
of this county is remarkably varied — ^places but a few miles apart dif-
fer as much in temperature and productions, as does the north from
the south of France. Where sheltered from the sea-breeze, the rose
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COUNTIES OP CAUFOBNU. 125
and many other flowers are perpetually in bloom. All the grain and
fruits which grow in other parts of the State, except the orange, olive,
fig, etc., flourish here. The vine, however, does not thrive at points
below an elevation of seven hundred feet above the sea.
The town of Santa Cruz, the county seat, is situated on the north
side of Monterey bay, in a pleasant little nook or bend, formed by a
spur of the coast range which projects about two miles into the bay-
It is surrounded with high mountains on aU sides except the south-
east ; on this side it is open to the bay, along which there is a stretch
of beautiful, pearly white sea-beach. The view from the upper por-
tion of the town, looking south, is magnificent : the waters of the capa-
cious bay, nearly thirty miles wide, are pale blue where deepest, and
shade into snowy whiteness as they approach the smooth sand. The
town of Monterey, nestled in a similar nook on the opposite shore,
looks like a huge flower-garden, the green foliage contrasting finely
with the grey granite of the hills that enclose it, while the brown
mountains, crested with a dark forest-ridge, form a bold, beautiful
border. To the right is the wide expanse of the Pacific ocean stretch-
ing to the limits of the horizon, its surface smooth and bright as a
mirror, or ruffled into billows by the winds — still grand, under either
aspect.
The town is built on lands formerly owned by the old mission of
Santa Cruz, (Holy Cross,) founded in 1791, which gives name to the
county. Near the ruins of this old building, a handsome Catholic
church has been erected. It is Mexican in origin, but has been re-
constructed by its American possessors. Only a few of the old adobe
bmldings remain, and, until quite recently, a double row of beautiful
wUlows, which once formed the fence of the old mission garden, was
growing in the center of the main street, but the march of improve-
ment, and the expansion of the town, have caused the destruction of
nearly all of them. There are good wharf accommodations, but the
harbor is exposed to all winds except the north, which renders it dan-
gerous for vessels during the winter; it is, however, the best harbor in
the couniy.
The site of the town furnishes a notable illustration of the several
elevations to which this portion of the coast has been subjected, during
a comparatively recent period. It consists of three benches, which
are from a mile to two miles wide, and extend through the vaUey.
The first is thirty feet above the level of high water, the second is
thirty-four feet higher, and the third is one hundred and ninety-nine
feet still higher, showing a total rise of two hundred and sixiy-three
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126 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
feet. The business portion of the town, and most of the gardens and
orchards, are on the lowest of these terraces. The old mission, and the
tanneries, which form an important interest here, are located on the
middle bench. The lime-kilns and several dwellii%s are on the upper
one, from which a railroad to connect with the wharf from this point, is
projected. The entire bones of a whale were found, about two years
since, on the upper level, near the banks of the Soquel.
Opposite Santa Cruz, on the southern side of the San Lorenzo
river, are the ruins of the old Mexican pueblo of Branciforte, which
was originated as a substitute for the pueblo of San Francisco. Dur-
ing the past year, nearly one hundred new buildings, chiefly private
residences, have been erected in the town, and gas-works have also
been constructed.
The San Lorenzo valley, in which this town is located, is about
twenty miles in length, running north-west and south-east, in several
places narrowing to a mere channel for the river, between high hills ;
at others, opening into wide plateaus, which are very valuable for
agricultural purposes. Li this county, the chain of mountains which
divides it from Santa Clara is called the Santa Cruz mountains, while
that extending to the westward, and forming the blunt peninstda that
projects on the south into the bay of Monterey, and on the north into
Half-Moon bay, is called the Coast mountains. The head of this val-
ley is only seven miles from the beautiful Santa Clara vaUey, but the
whole of this distance is very mountainous and densely timbered with
redwood. Shielded from the unpleasant winds which occasionally
blow from the ocean, with a soil almost to the top of the mountains of
exceeding richness, and a stream of pure water running through its
entire length, capable of turning a large number of mill-wheels, it is
not wonderful that it has become the seat of a busy agricultural and
manufacturing poptdation.
Pescadero is a flourishing town, about thirty-five miles north-west
from Santa Cruz, and only fifty miles from San Francisco. It is located
on both sides of Pescadero creek, near its confluence with the Butano,
about a mile from the sea-beach. The New San Francisco "Water
Company wiU take their supply from the head of the former creek.
The valley in which this charming place is situated, contains about
4^500 acres of extremely fertile land, surrounded by high hills on all
sides except the west, to which it opens to the broad expanse of the
Pacific ocean. An idea of the quality of the soil in this valley may be
formed when it is stated that a large crop of potatoes has been raised
on some portions of it, for twelve consecutive years, without manuring.
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COUNTIES OF CAUFOBNIA. 127'
The famous ])ebble beach is near this town, where agates, opals,
jaspers, camelians, and other silicioas stones, of aknost every conceir-
able variety of color, are found in great abundance, polished with a fine
lustre by the smooth sea sand, and the ceaseless motion of the surf.
These pebbles are of all sizes, the most beautiful ranging from the size
of a pea to a marble, and are of every imaginable shape. Some are as
transparent as glass, others only partially so, but marked with variegated
bands of red, white, green, and blue. The most abundant are of the
various tints of red peculiar to camelians ; occasionally opals are
found, as round and nearly as lustrous as pearls — some few are black as
jet, others clear amber colored, or pink, like amethysts. Some stones
of commercial value are found here ; probably as many as twenty tons
are collected annually for ornamenting walks, and many are cut, and
set in jewelry. The source from whence they are derived is a stratum
of coarse, friable sandstone, which skirts the coast for about two miles
along the beach. It is only in this vicinity that they are found.
Innumerable pebbles Are imbedded in this sandstone, in as highly pol-
ished a condition as those found on the beach, having doubtless been
washed on a similar beach for ages before the present one was formed
by the uplifting of the land.
Pescadero contains one of the most enterprising communities in
this progressive county. Its residents have built handsome churches,
school houses, public buildings, hotels, bridges, wharves and private
residences, equal to any town in the State of the same size. The
lower hills around the valley afford excellent grazing for large herds
of cows, from the milk of which this little town annually makes and
exports to San Francisco one hundred and seventy-five thousand
pounds of cheese, and fifty thousand pounds of butter, both of good
quality. The immense ** Sanitary cheese,'* weighing four thousand
pounds, five feet six inches in diameter, and twenty-two inches thick,
made for the benefit of the "Sanitary Fund," in 1863, which real-
ized several thousand dollars by its exhibition and sale, was made in
this little valley. The exports of oak bark, collected from the forests
in the higher ranges, furnish another important source of revenue to
the place. The lumber business, fairly commenced only a year or two
since, has expanded into large proportions, the mountains and canons
being covered with forests of redwood and pine. Pescadero is a favor-
ite resort of pleasure seekers from Slan Francisco, from which it is only
six hours drive over good roads. The scenery and climate in the vicin-
ity are among the finest on the coast. Barley and potatoes are the
principal crops raised — from sixty to eighty bushels of the former, and
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128 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
two hiindred and fifty 100-&> sacks of the latter to the acre being not an
unusual yield.
For several miles south of Pescadero the coast line presents a bold
outline of cliffs, formed of sand, gravel and clay, nearly two hundred
feet high, the remains of the old terraces so often referred to, worn by
the beating of the waves into little coves and gulches, fringed in many
places with a luxuriant growth of shrubs and flowers. There are also
several valleys in this vicinity, in which villages have been located, saw
mills erected, and the soil cultivated to a considerable extent.
Five miles south from Pescadero is Pigeon Point, so named from
having been the scene of the disastrous wreck of the ship Carrier
Pigeon^ several years since. This is both a whaling station and a
flourishing agricultural district, but labors under great disadvantages for
lack of a landing place — this part of the coast being very dangerous,
and almost inaccessible. Yankee ingenuity, however, surmounts these
difficulties, and the place thrives. During 1867 it exported 6, 200 sacks
r of oats; 3,000 sacks of potatoes; 120,000 pounds of butter; 10,500 of
cheese; 12,500,000 shingles and nine hundred barrels of whale oil;
besides large quantities of other produce — the whole of which was
shipped in the following manner: The surf breaking nearly six hundred
feet from the line of cliffs which skirts the shore, no boats can land,
or wharf be built ; a hawser is therefore made fast to the rocks
beyond the breakers, and to stout posts in the cliff above, at an angle
of about thirty degrees. On this hawser are large blocks and tackles,
to which the articles for shipment are attached and lowered into boats
ready to receive them. These boats convey them to the vessels, which
are compelled to anchor nearly a mile off the shore. Of course, this
work cannot be carried on except in fair weather.
Franklin Point, three miles south of Pigeon Point, is another dan-
gerous projection from the coast line. This place is named from the
wreck of the Sir John Franklin. The CorOy from Australia, was also
wrecked here in 1866. ' The graves of the crews, and some of the pas-
sengers of both vessels, are near the beach.
Four miles south from Point Franklin, is New Tears Point, where
there is a break in the coast line, and a small indentation affords a har-
bor for quite a fleet of vessels engaged in the lumber trade. Here, a
wharf, seven hundred feet in length, has been constructed on piles, suf-
ficiently high to be above the sutf, which occasionally breaks with
great fury. Upwards of two million feet of lumber are annually
shipped from this wharf. Waddell's mills, an extensive lumbering
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA. 129
establishment, five miles distant, among the redwoods, are connected
with this wharf by a railroad.
Watsonville, one of the most thrifty towns in this county, is sit-
uated on the north bank of the Pajaro river, where the road to Monte-
rey crosses it. It is five miles from the bay of Monterey, and about
twenty miles southeast from Santa Cruz. It was founded in 1853, by
J. H. Watson. At present it contains a number of hotels, large stores
and factories, several churches and school houses, numerous brick and
frame private dwellings, and is the center of considerable trade, hav-
ing a good shipping port about three miles distant, on the Salinas river,
at Elkhom slough, the Estero de Yallejo of the old Califomians. This
slough, which is about two hundred and fifty feet wide, has such a cir-
cuitous course to the bay that it is nearly ten miles in length, while
the distance in a straight line is only four miles.
The climate of this place differs materially from that of Santa Gnu;
being located at the mouth of Pajaro gap, in the Gavilan mountains,
which causes it to be frequently shrouded in a dense fog, when Santa
Cruz is enjoying the clearest sunshine.
Corallitas, about six miles north from Watsonville, is the center of
another important section of the couniy. The town of the district,
which contains nearly one thousand five hundred inhabitants, is situated
in a small valley, through which the Corallitas creek flows on its way to'
the Pajaro. This stream rises to the north between the Lloma Prieto,
(black mountain,) three thousand feet high, and Mount Bacho, three
thousand seven hundred and eighty feet high, (the two highest peaks in
this section of the Coast Range, ) and after meandering in a very serpen-
tine course for about twelve miles through a country densely timbered
with redwood and oak, unites with the Pajaro about a mile north of the
town of Watsonville. There are a great number of saw mills and sev-
eral flouring mills on this creek, which affords the only water power in
the southern portion of the county. Nearly one hundred thousand
acres of land in this district were sold during 1867, in parcels of forty
to two hundred and fifty acres, for farming purposes, at prices ranging
from three to thirty dollars per acre.
Soqnel is another growing locality. The town of this district is sit-
uated on the west side of the Soquel creek, about a mile from the bay
of Monterey, and three miles easterly from Santa Cruz. This place
was settled in 1845, by John Hames and John Daubinbiss, who reside
here stilL This creek also rises among the Black mountains, but at
some distance from the Corallitas^ and after winding among the thick
9
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130 THE NATUBAL WE.VLTH OF CALIFORNIA.
timber for eighteen miles, enters the bay about three miles east of
Santa Cruz, where a good wharf has been erected.
Castroville is another town which has been formed within a year or
two, on the rancho of Rafael Castro, at the mouth of Aptos creek, about
two miles east of Sequel landing, where a wharf five hundred feet in
length has been built, from which a large quantity of grain, potatoes,
and lumber is shipped to San Francisco. In October, 1867, there
were four thousand cords of wood at this wharf awaiting shipment.
There are few scenes more strikingly Califomian or more naturally
beautiful than may be met with during a ramble through the redwoods
of Santa Cruz. The peculiar and delicate cinnamon tint of the bark of
these superb trees, which not unf requently measure fifteen feet in diam-
eter, towering from two hundred to three hundred feet in height, and
sometimes straight and free from branches more than half of that dis-
tance, the dark green foliage, resting above as a huge canopy, imper-
vious to the sun's rays, keeps the soil cool and moist, and forms a sort
of hot-house for numerous varieties of delicate fiowers, while in the
less sheltered canons, the magnificent madrona, the laurel, manzinita,
sycamore, buckeye and birch, and the numberless varieties of tmder-
brush, all varying in tint and form, comprise a picture of rare beauty.
For its luxuriant vegetation and sturdy growth of timber, as well as its
genial climate, Santa Cruz is indebted to its position, which fully
exposes it to the moist and tempering breezes of the ocean.
About ten miles northeast from the town of Santa Cruz there are
forty-five cylinders of sandstone, which were at one time supposed to
be the ruins of an old building. These curious pillars are from forty
to fifty feet in length, and from one to three feet in diameter, and hol-
low through their entire length. They rest, at their base, on a stratum
of sandstone, but pass through a bed of loose sand. They have been
formed by mineral springs containing lime and iron in solution, which,
in their passage to the surface, deposited these minerals in the sand,
concreting it into these cylinders. When the land was uplifted, and
the source of the springs dried up, the sand, being exposed to the wind,
was removed, leaving the pillars standing, until some of them fell
from want of support. They form an interesting object in the topo-
graphy of the county.
Among the valuable natural products of this county may be men-
tioned the chestnut oak, (quercm dermfloray) which grows abundantly in
the mountain ranges. The bark of this tree contains more tannic acid
than any other that grows on the American continent. It is this pecu-
liarity that causes the California leather to be so much tougher than
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C0UNTIE8 OP CALIFORNIA^ 131
most other kinds. There are at present seven tanneries in Santa Cruz,
which consume monthly about three hundred tons of this bark, in making
55,000 sides of sole, upper and harness leather annually, valued at
$225,000, about sixty per cent, of which is sole leather. The best por-
tion of the trees, after the bark has been removed, is converted into
staves for flour and lime barrels, of which a large number are made
annually; the balance of the tree is cut into fire-wood, of which sev-
eral thousand cords are annually sent to San Francisco. The pecu-
liarly rich soil of the lower hills produces a great quantity of hazel
bushes, from which nearly idl the hoops used by the powder-works
and lime-burners are made. The powder company use 1,700,000, and
the lime-works over 300,000, of these hoops annually, and large
quantities are also exported to other places, without any apparent
decrease in the supply of the material These hoop poles sell at
from $5 to 110 per thousand when splits and give employment to a
large number of laborers. This adaptation of materials to appropriate
purposes is illustrative of the spirit of the people who inhabit this
county. There are many other sections of the State quite as rich in
natural resources, and as conveniently located with reference to mar-
kets as Santa Cruz, but they are not inhabited by so enterprising a
population.
The number of fish swarming in Monterey bay, is almost incred-
ible. There is scarcely any description known on the coast, from the
whale to the sardine, but is caught here. In 1863, an immense shoal
of herrings, from some unknown cause, was stranded along the beach,
on the Santa Cruz side of the bay. They extended for nearly three
miles, and were spread to the depth of from six inches to nearly two
feet over the entire beach. A whaling station does a profitable busi-
ness here; occasionally a leviathan enters the bay, when the peculiarly
transparent water allows him to be seen for miles floimdering and bat-
tling with the swarms of parasites that feast on his blubber, until he is
captured by the whalers. The sardines in this bay are more numerous
and of better quality than are caught in many portions of the Mediter-
ranean, of which thousands of dollars' worth are annually imported
into the United States.
Copper ore exists in the Chelone and San Benito districts, near the
center of the county.
Oil from petroleum has been made, to some extent, on the Seyente
rancho, a few miles above the town of Santa Cruz, on the San Lorenzo
river. There are several other localities in the couniy where petroleum
is abundant.
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132 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
Coal has been discovered about seven miles from Watsonville, on
the Santa Cruz road, near the Seven Mile house, and at Lewis' valley,
in the eastern portion of the county. There has been but little eflFort
made to develope these discoveries.
Lime is one of the staple products of this county. More than one
third of all the lime used at San Francisco — about 220,000 barrels,
annually — is brought from Santa Cruz, where it is made from a large
body of highly crystalline limestone found about two miles north-east
of the town.
Gold, in both quartz veins and alluvium, has been discovered in
several places in this county. In 1854 a boulder of auriferous quartz
was found on Graham's ranch, which contained nearly $27,000 in gold.
Quite an extensive mining district was located in the vicinity of this
discovery, and small quantities of gold and silver were obtained from
both quartz ledges and placers; but mining not paying as weU as other
pu]:suits, it was abandoned.
^ In 1863, some excitement was created by the discovery of gold in
the sand on the beach of Monterey bay, between Aptos landing and
the Pajaro river. This gold was in exceedingly fine scales, somewhat
similar to that found nearly four himdred miles further north at Gold
Blufl^ in Klamath county. Being difficult to save, and not yielding
much to the pan, it did not pay to work. Gold has also been found in
nearly all the gulches in the vicinity of the town of Santa Cruz.
v/ The sand along the coast in this county, formed by the erosion of
the peculiar, white granite, so abimdant in the vicinity of the bay, is
remarkably well adapted for the manufacture of glass. Large quanti-
ties are collected and shipped to San Francisco, for this purpose.
About eight miles north from the town of Santa Cruz, at the base of
the Gavilan mountains, is an immense deposit of this white sand,
which may be of considerable value when the manufacture of glass
shall be more extensive in the State than at present. This sand
contains a large proportion of glassy feldspar, in the composition of
which there is upwards of twelve per cent, of soda — ^an important
ingredient in the manufacture of glass.
The soil of the valleys of this county is very well adapted for the
cultivation of leguminous plants, and a large proportion of the beans
raised in the State is the product of these valleys. Flax also grows
with great luxuriance. The table lands, where not cultivated, produce
enormous crops of wild mustard, the seed of which is so much supe-
rior to that raised further south or north, that it sells for more than
any other kind.
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CJOUNTIES OF CAUFOBNIA. 133
The crops in this county have never failed through drought. Its
peculiar topography attracts so much fog and dew as to sustain vegeta-
tion in the absence of rain.
There are eight grist mills in this county, which made, in 1867>
28,000 barrels of flour; twenty-two lumber mills — twelve steam, and ten
driven by water — capable of sawing 11,000,000 feet per annum; also,
nine shingle mills, which make over 12,000,000 shingles, annually.
Among other important manufactures are gunpowder and paper. The
California Powder "Works — the pioneer powder mill in the State — was
incorporated in December, 1861, and commenced the manufacture of
powder in May, 1864, with a capacity of two hundred and fifty kegs per
day. In May, 1867, its capacity was increased to over six hundred
and forty kegs per day, chiefly blasting powder, and during the nine
months ending December 31st, of that year, 158, 500 kegs, containing
twenty-five pounds each, were manufactured.
The San Lorenzo Paper mill made, in 1866, thirty-one thousand reams
of straw paper, from straw grown in the vicinity, and about six thou-
sand five hundred reams of newspaper. Owing to the flood of 1866-67,
operations were suspended from January to June of the latter year.
During the seven months ending December 31st, 1867, over thirty thou-
sand reams of wrapping paper were made.
The manufactures of this coimty derived an important advantage
from the great earthquake of 1865. That shaking increased the waters
of all the creeks and rivers to nearly double their previous volume,
during the dry season.
SANTA CLARA^ COUNTY.
This county is bounded on the north by Alameda and San Mateo
counties, on the south by Monterey, on the east by Stanislaus, and on
the west by Santa Cruz county. It is about thirty-five miles in length
by thirty miles in average width, and contains over 1,050 square miles,
or nearly 700,000 acres, of which about 300,000 acres are valley — the
balance is low grassy hills, or heavily timbered moimtains. The greater
portion of this land is enclosed — ^large tracts in the moimtains being
fenced for their timber; about 300,000 acres are tmder actual cultiva-
tion, this being one of the most important agricultural counties in the
State.
The increase in the assessed value of real estate in the county during
the year 1866 exceeded $850,000, and from the large number of new sett-
lers and the additional land under cultivation during the past year, the
increased valuation for the year 1867 will probably reach $1,000,000
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134 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNLL
aboTe that of 1866, making the aggregate assessed value of the real
property amount to $5,000,000. This is far below the actual value.
It contains a population of twenty-three thousand, of whom seven
thousand are under fifteen years of age. The county derives its name
from the old Mission of Santa Clara^ founded in 1777. The present
mission buildings were not erected until 1822, and these are not on the
site of the original mission. Two previous structures were destroyed,
one by a flood in 1779, the other by an earthquake in 1781.
Santa Clara county is not well watered naturally. So large a portion
of it being in the great valley, it has but few streams. The Guadalupe
and Coyote creeks are the only water courses of any importance within
its limits. These have their source in a lagoon in Penetencia canon,
and after flowing a few miles among the mountains on the east, approach
San Jos^, and then unite and empty into San Francisco bay, near
Alviso. An abimdant supply of water is obtained by means of artesian
wells, of which there are nearly one thousand in the valley — its geo-
logical formation being exceedingly favorable for boring. All the
orchards and gardens about San Jos^ and Santa Clara are watered by
this means. In 1856, one of these wells, in the vicinity of San Jos^,
was bored to the depth of three himdred and twenty-five feet, when the
water rose in a solid stream, through a seven inch pipe, to the height of
thirty-two feet above the surface. The great increase in the number of
wells since that time has materially lessened the flow, and but few of
them now force the water above the surface. Prior to 1860, the mam-
moth fountains these wells formed in nearly every garden and farm we?3
among the attractions of San Jos^. The flow of water was so great
that ditches had to be cut to carry oflF the surplus. Few of the wells
are more than one hundred feet deep.
The broad valley of Santa Clara, at the southern extremity of San
Francisco bay, twenty miles wide, and extending upwards of thirty
miles southward, is charmingly undulated with gently rounded hills,
and beautifully diversified with clumps of oak and numberless farms,
gardens, cottages, towns, and villages.
The peculiar geograpJiical position of this county, in a broad valley
nearly surrounded by mountains, causes it to enjoy an equable climate;
but it is from ton to fifteen degrees warmer than that of San Fran-
cisco, being comparatively free from the cold winds and fogs which pre-
vail nearer the coast. The greater portion of the soil on the lower
plains is a rich black, sandless loam, called " adobe, " which yields from
twenty-five to thirty bushels of wheat to the acre. Many fields have
been planted with grain for ten consecutive years without manuring —
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COUNTIES OP CAUFORNLL 135
the last crop being the heaviest This is particularly the case on -what
is known as Stockton's ranch, a large tract of land on the east side of
the valley, purchased by Commodore Stockton in 1847. There ai*e
other sections where the land thus continually "cropped" with wheat,
on which the yield is much lighter than formerly. Some of the new
land yields as high as seventy-five bushels of wheat to the acre. The
wheat raised in the eastern portion of the valley, where the soil is some-
what gravelly, sells for the highest price in the San Francisco market,
and makes the finest flour.
Along Los Qatos creek, about a mile from Ban Jos^, there is a
tract of rich bottom land which, a few years since, was covered with
willows, but now contains about thirty acres of hops, which it produces
luxuriantly. The crop at this place, for 1867, was estimated at thirtj^-
five thousand pounds. About the town of Santa Clara — the highest
land in the valley — the soil is lighter and more sandy ; similar land
extends beyond Gilroy, thirty miles south of San Jos^ but it is not
generally cultivated, as it does not prove remunerative to haul produce
to market by teams from that point. When the railroad to Watsonville
is constructed, many thousands of acres in this district will be culti-
vated, which are now used for grazing. One reason why much of the
hill and mountain land on the west side of Santa Clara valley, about
Gilroy, and south of that place, is retained for grazing purposes, is,
that being within the range of the fogs from the ocean, the grass is
green, and affords good pasturage during the summer. Every year,
large numbers of stock are driven from some of the southern and inte-
rior counties to be fed on the fresh pasturage of these hills. So val-
uable are some of these lands for this purpose, that their owners hold
them at higher prices than the grain lands of the valleys.
The high lands bounding the valley on the east and west are admir-
ably adapted for the cultivation of the grape, to which large tracts have
been applied. The soil of these hills is a dark brown, sandy loam,
quite unlike that of the valley. The common California grape, which
does not ripen until September in other localities, on the hills south-
east of San Jos^ ripens in July and Augusi The highest ridges of
the mountains are in many places densely timbered, affording a supply
of good lumber and f ueL The slopes around the edge of the valley are
covered with wild oats and native grasses, and afford excellent pastu-
rage for large herds of cows. The butter and cheese made about
Gilroy are famous for their richness. There are very few cattle raised
in the county, it being so generally under cultivation with grain and
fruit
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136 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIPORNLL
Prom San Jose to Gilroy, a distance of nearly thirty miles, the val-
ley in the summer forms an almost unbroken wheat field. In May,
June, and July, when the grain is ripening, the view of this portion of
the valley is a marvel of beauty. The farmer's houses, surrounded by
gardens and orchards, appear like beautiful green islands in a golden
sea. A month later, the whole scene is changed ; the waving grain has
all been cut, and huge stacks of yellow straw and dingy grain bags are
piled up in all directions, the latter waiting to be hauled to market.
In the spring it presents still another aspect, when the young grain is
just peeping above the black soil, and the purple and white blossoms of
the apricot and peach form a striking contrast in color with the hazy
neutral tint of the distant mountains.
The great extent of level land in this valley admits of the use of all
descriptions of agricultural machinery; the consequence is that nearly
all the work on the large farms is performed with almost incredible
rapidity. A thousand acres are sometimes plowed, seeded, and cut in
less time than is required on farms of one hundred acres in many parts of
Europe. This advantage, together with the much larger yield per acre,
compensates for the higher price of land, labor and material. Large
tracts of this valley produce volunteer crops, which are cut for hay,
yielding generally about two tons per acre.
There are about forty steam threshing machines, and a large num-
ber run by horse-power, in this county; also, ten first-class grist-mills
capable of turning out 1,600 barrels of flour daily; and ten saw-mills,
with power adequate to cut 70,000 feet of lumber per day. There are
seven tanneries — three at San Jos^, three, at Santa Clara, and one near
McCartysville — ^which, in the aggregate, make from 12,000 to 13,000
sides of leather annually.
San Jose, the county seat, is situated near the Guadaloupe river,
about nine miles from the head of San Francisco bay, fifty miles from
the city of San Francisco. It is an old Spanish pueblo, founded in
1777, the first founded by that government in this State, but presents
none of the features of such an origin except a few adobe houses on
the plaza, and the row of willows which form the alameda between it
and Santa Clara, two miles distant. This unique grove, one of the
finest drives in the State, was planted by the missionaries, in 1799, as
a walk to connect the pueblo of San Jose with the mission church, near
where it now stands, at Santa Clara. San Jose is the center of an im-
portant agricultural district, the development of the resources of which
has been greatly augmented by the construction of the San Francisco
and San Jos^ railroad, completed in 1863. Nearly one half of its prin-
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CJ0UNTIE8 OF CALIFOBNIA. 137
cipal buildings has been erected since that time, and its population,
importance, and the value of real estate, have more than doubled. In
1860, it had but 1,000 inhabitants; at present, it has upwards of 7,000,
including the suburbs. Land in the vicinity of the alameda, which a
year or two since could have been purchased for $50 per acre, now
sells at from 1200 to $300 per acre. Six important stage-lines radiate
from this place, in connection with the railroad ; and the long line of
farmers' wagons and heavy teams, the whirr of the stages, the whistling
and bell-ringing of the locomotives, the rattle of machinery, the throng
of people, and general activity, all tell of thrift and progress.
It contains many fine public buildings, stores and private resid-
ences^ including six churches, and several colleges and public schools,
a fine park planted with trees and rare plants, and has more of a metro-
politan appearance than any other town in the State, except San Fran-
cisco and Sacramento. The court-house, in the northern part of the
city, is the finest structure of the kind in the State. It is constructed
of stone, brick, and iron, in the Corinthian style ; is 100 feet in width,
140 feet in length, and 56 feet high to the top of the cornice, above
which a dome, 50 feet in diameter, rises 59 feet higher. The front is
an hexastyle portico, 76 feet high and 15 feet deep, reached by a flight
of 13 solid granite steps. The six Corinthian columns, 4 feet in diam-
eter and 38 feet high, support an elegant entablature 10 feet high.
The exterior walls are ornamented with pillastres^ to correspond with
the front ; the interior is fitted up with equal taste and elegance. The
main court-room is 48 by 68 feet, and 38 feet high, lighted from the
celling by 12 highly enriched panels of ground glass. The total cost
of the building exceeded $150,000. At certain seasons of the year, the
view from the dome of this building is one of the most charming and
suggestive to be found in the State. The valley at this point, nearly
fifteen miles wide, is a perfect net-work of fences; the whole of it, as
far as the eye can range, being under thorough cultivation, each parcel
of land differing in tint, according to the crop and the stage of its
growth. For miles around the building, as a foreground, are solid
masses of orchards and nursery gardens, thickly planted with fruit-
trees and flowering plants, for San Jose has always been the nursery
garden of the State, where exotics are acclimatized. Here may be
seen the strange but beautiful shrubs and flowers from Japan and
China, the gum and acacia trees from Australia, the geranium and
fuschia from the south of Europe, the rose, box and holly from Eng-
land, the blackthorn from Ireland, the lily from France, the pink and
carnation from Germany, the tulip from Holland, the currant and fig
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138 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA.
from Greece, the olive and grape from Italy and Portugal, the glorious
magnolia and camelia japonica from the "sunny south," and the sturdy
pine from the cold north — all blooming and growing in the genial open
air, beside the cactus and palm« the cypress^ cedar and sequoia, and
other beautiful indigenous trees and plants of the Pacific coast, forming
a yariety of foliage not to be seen outside of Galiiomia, and a sort of
floral representation of the cosmopolitan character of the population of
the State. In some of the vineyards of this place, as many as 120 vari-
eties of grapes, from all parts of the world, are cultivated successfully.
The pear grows here in extraordinary luxuriance and beauty — ^many of
the older trees producing from 3,500 to 4,000 pounds each season.
Few of these trees were planted prior to 1852. There are 5,000 cherry
trees in the gardens of San Jos^, cultivated to supply the San Fran-
cisco market, besides a large number in private orchards. The aver-
age product of seven-eighths of these trees is one hundred and fifty
pounds of cherries each.
The Hon. J. E. Brown, who owns a vineyard near San Jose, has
introduced the cultivation of the raisin-grape, {f auger zagm,) which thrives
remarkably well. One stem, in the summer of 1867, yielded between
thirty and forty pounds of this fruit, in fine bunches, as a first crop for
that year, and was loaded in November with nearly as many more.
The climate of this vaUey is well adapted for drying all kinds of fruit.
The success of Mr. Brown's experiment, has induced several other
parties to cultivate the raisin-grape here ; Santa Clara will conse-
quently produce in a few years large quantities of raisins.
The first silk-worms raised in the State were hatched at this place.
They were obtained from Adrianople, (Turkey,) by Messrs. Prevost
k Hentsch. Several attempts were previously made to introduce the
worm from Europe, but without success. More expeditious means of
transportation have, however, since enabled the European worms to be
introduced. There are also worms from China and other parts of the
world, all of which appear to thrive. Large mulberry orchards, culti-
vated to feed the silk-worm, are raised here, and a factory is to be
established for the manufacture of silk. The business of silk-making
may yet become an important interest at this point.
A portion of the Western Pacific railroad, extending north from
San Jos^ into Alameda county, has been completed a distance of
twenty miles, but has not been brought into use. The proposed South-
em Pacific railroad is to start at San Jose, and ruil through the entire
county, southeasterly.
Santa Clara is situated on a alight eminence, about two miles
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBNIA. 139
north-west from San Jos^, to which it is nnited by the alameda, rapidly
becoming a continuous street between the two places. The University
of the Pacific is located near this alameda. Santa Clara contains five
churches and several excellent schools. The old mission which gives
name to the county, forms a portion of the present Jesuit college.
The olive trees and vineyards of the old establishment are in an
excellent state of preservation. From this place, looking north, may be
seen the dim outline of the mountains beyond San Francisco, with the
city, bay, and shipping, at their feet ; to the east, the Monte Diablo
ranges, with their shady nooks and gently sloping sides, form a border
to the valley; west and south, are the mountains of the coast, and a
little west of south, the extensive works of the New Almaden quick*
silver mine are distinctly seen.
Gilroy, named after the first settler in the State, about thirty miles
south-east from San Jos^, is a flourishing town situated between the
Coast Bange and the Contra Costa mountains, in the southern part of
the Santa Clara vaUey. It contains four churches, a school-house, and
many well built stores and residences. Old Gilroy resides at San Yse-
dro, about three miles from the town, in the same old adobe house
built forty years ago. North-east of the town, along the sloping edges
of the plateau which forms the center of the great Santa Clara valley,
is the grazing district of this county. Here, thousands of sleek cows
find abundant pasturage, which imparts to their milk such richness as
to cause the butter and cheese from this locality to be among the best
that reaches the San Francisco market. The mountains six miles west
afibrd an abundant supply of lumber and fuel. The proposed railroad
from San Jos^ to Watsonville, will pass through this place.
About six miles easterly from Gilroy, is the Canon de los Osas,
(Bear's canon,) which, a few years ago, was a favorite resort of the
"grizzly." It is a wild but exquisitely beautiful gorge, through a
range of high mountains, covered with live oak, sycamore, and a dense
underbrush, which is still full of small game ; but "bruin" has been
exterminated. The red clover and bunch grass growing luxuriantly
here, are the favorite food of many kinds of game. The creeks and
pools are also full of fine trout
About fourteen miles from the town, in a small rocky ravine, on the
Coyote canon, near the hec^waters of that creek, where the mountains,
timbered to their summits, rise several hundred feet on both sides of
that creek, a Mexican shepherd, while hunting for some of his stray
flock, in 1865, discovered what are now the well known Gilroy springs.
The hot springs represented as possessing remarkable medicinal qual*
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140 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNLL
ities, discharges continuously about three inches of water of a nearly
uniform temperature of 110^ Fahrenheit, at all seasons. This water
oontaitfs in solution, iron, soda, magnesia, sulphur and baryta, and a
large quantity of it is bottled and sold in San Francisco. It is by no
means impleasant, but pungent to the taste. Within fifteen feet of this
hot spring there are a dozen or more large springs of pure, cold water.
The beauty of the surroimding scenery, and the curative qualities of
the waters, have caused the erection of a fine hotel on the edge of the
canon, to reach which a good road has been made from Gilroy.
Lexington, twelve miles southwest from San Jose, is situated in a
gap in the Sierra Azul, as the Santa Cruz mountains are here called, in
a beautiful amphitheater of densely timbered moimtains nearly two
thousand feet high, that surround it on all sides. There are extensive
tracts of good farming and grazing lands in these mountains. In the
plateaus formed by the rising of the land, the grape, apple, peach and
other fruits, as well as all the cereals, grow remarkably well. There
are a number of goo4 orchards, and upwards of one thousand acres of
cultivated land in this district, which invariably produce fine crops.
Six of the largest lumber mills in the county are located here. Los
Gatos creek, passing through it, furnishes abundant water power.
This is also one of the most noted sections of the State for split lum-
ber, such as posts, rails, and pickets. The timber here splits with a
peculiar smoothness and straightness. Upwards of one million feet
of this description of lumber are annually shipped from Lexington.
McCartysville, ten miles southwest from San Jos^, is situated at the
foot of the Coast Range, in a pleasant vaUey nearly surrounded by moun-
tains, some of which are more than three thousand feet high, from which
flows Campbell's creek, a considerable stream of water, giving ade-
quate water powerfor a number of lumber and grist mills located on it
— Clumber and grain being staple products of the district. Farming,
stock raising, and the cultivation of fruit, are also carried on success-
fully. The remarkable increase in the supply of water in the San Lo-
renzo river, after the earthquake of 1865, referred to in the topography
of Santa Cruz county, extended to this place, which is nearly tweniy
miles north from that river. The water in Campbell's creek was
doubled in volume, greatly to the advantage of the millers and lumber-
men.
One mile above, and northwest of McCartysville, on Campbell's
creek, are situated the Pacific Congress springs, so caUed because of
the resemblance of the waters to those of Congress spring, one of the
fountains at Saratoga^ New York. There are at this place three of
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COUNTIES OP CAMPORNIA. 141
these springs, the two lower but four feet apart, the third being sepa-
rated from them by a space of about fifty feet. They are but a foot or
two deep, being excavated from the sandstone, the lower one, which
receives the drainage of the others, sending off a stream about two
inches in size. The water from these several springs is so nearly alike
that the difference can scarcely be perceived by the taste. By analysis
it is shown to contain 335.85 grains of solid matter to the gallon, com-
posed as follows :
Chloride of sodiom 119. 159
Sulphate of soda. , 1 2. 140
Carbonate of soda 123.351
Carbonate of iron 14.030
Carbonate of lime 17.295
Silica alumina, with a trace of magnesia. 49.882
It is considered a healthful and refreshing beverage, and though
but recently introduced, is fast gaining favor with the public, about
eighty dozen bottles being sent away daily, besides considerable
quantities consumed by guests visiting the springs. The gas is col-
lected in a receiver placed over the principal fountain of the group,
whence it is conducted through a pipe and forced into the bottles.
Alviso, the shipping port of Santa Clara county, is located at the
junction of the Alviso slough and the Guadalupe river, about three
miles from the bay of San Francisco, and eight miles north of San Jose^
There are good wharves at this place for the accommodation of shipping,
and a number of flour mills, granaries, and stores. The Alviso brand
of flour is one of the best in the State.
New Almaden is situated about thirteen miles southerly from San
Jos^ on the Alamitos creek, in a narrow glen, nearly Ave hundred feet
above tide level, between high ranges of mountains. Mount Chisnan-
tuck, the culminating peak on one side being nearly one thousand eight
hundred feet high, and Mount Umauhum, on the other, nearly one
thousand five hundred feet in heighi This place was located in 1845, by
Don Andres Castillero, the original discoverer of the New Almaden
quicksilver mines, which are situated in the mountains on the southwest
of the town, and nearly nine hundred feet above it; but the deposits of
cinnabar extend for several miles along the range. The town of New
Almaden contains about one thousand eight hundred inhabitants, nearly
all of whom are either employed about the mines and works, or in min-
istering to the wants of those who are.
The Enriquita mine is two miles northwest from the Almaden, and
the Ghiadalupe two miles still further north. The details pertaining to
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142 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
these mines are given in another chapter, devoted to the subject of
"Quicksilver."
Another town connected with a quicksilver mine has sprung up
within the past year, about three and a half miles south from San Jose,
on Chapman's ranch. The developments in the Bautista mine, located
here, are such as to warrant the belief that the discovery is of some
importance. Furnaces, several stores, and private residences have
been built at this place within a few months.
There are excellent roads throughout the county, mainly connected
with San Jose, but more are needed for the proper development of its
resources.
In addition to the important deposits of cinnabar in this coimty, it
also contains several veins of copper ore, which have been worked to
some extent. Petroleum and asphaltum are abundant in the range of
mountains between Gilroy and Watsonville, particularly on Sargent's
ranch, and in Moody's gulch, near Lexington, at a point one thousand
one himdred feet above the sea. A number of wells were sunk here in
1865, and smaU quantities of oil were obtained.
SAN MATEO COUNTY.
This county embraces nearly the whole of the peninsula of San
Francisco, which separates the bay from the Pacific ocean. It is over
thirty miles in length, six miles wide on the north where it joins the
county of San Francisco ; nearly sixteen miles wide in its center, and
ten miles wide on the south, adjoining Santa Cruz county. It was or-
ganized in 1856, when it was separated from San Francisco, to which
county it formerly belonged. It contains 154,980 acres, 140,000 of
which are enclosed, 62,000 being under cultivation. A branch of the
Gavilan, or Santa Cruz mountains, here called the Sierra Moreno,
traverses it from north to south, reaching an altitude in some places,
of 3,000 feet, averaging about 1,500 feet, forming two slopes, the east-
em one shedding its waters into the bay of San Francisco, and the
western into the Pacific ocean. These mountains, in the southern
part of the county, are steep and rugged, but covered with redwood
and oak.
A bench, from two to five miles wide, which skirts the bay of San
Francisco, and another about a mile wide and ten miles long, near
Half Moon bay, caused by the uplifting of the land, are among the
most valuable portions of the county, for agricultural purposes. This
land is exceedingly fertile, and produces fine crops of the cereals, but
smaU tracts in the mountains, and many charming little valleys among
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COUNTIES OF CALIFORNU. 143
{hem, are also under eultiyation, in which grow luxuriantly, fruits, vege-
tables and grain. Much of the mountain land is also used for grazing
purposes ; many large herds of cows are kept here, which supply some
of the best milk consumed in San Francisco.
The excellence of the climate, which is milder and less humid than
that of San Francisco, and the accessibility of that city, have caused
this county to be thickly settled for homestead purposes. Here a
large number of the wealthy citizens of the metropolis have erected
private residences, around which, all that money, taste, and skill, can
accomplish in the way of adding to the natural beauty of the scenery,
has been done. Few counties in the State contain a greater number of
elegant private mansions and gardens, than San Mateo. The San
Francisco and San Jos^ railroad, passing through it for nearly twenty
miles, has greatly tended to increase the number of this class of resi-
dents, and materially aided in developing the resources of the county.
Its population, at the close of 1867, numbered 6,000; in 1863, it
contained only 3,250. The value of its real estate and productions,
has increased in a still greater proportion since the completion of the
railroad.
San Mateo is one of the dairy counties of California, much atten-
tion being paid to this business. The facilities for feeding the stock;
the heavy fogs from the ocean condensing on tlie slopes of the hills,
keeping the pasturage green for months after the grass is withered in
the valleys, and the convenience to San Francisco, afford many advan-
tages to dairymen. There are fifteen dairies in this county, which,
collectively, have five thousand cows.
The county contains two water, and three steam saw-mills, of suffi-
cient power to saw 35,000 feet of lumber daily; three shingle-mills,
with capacity for cutting 75,000 per day; and two grist-mills, capable
of making 200 barrels of flour daily. Its chief resources are grain and
lumber.
Bedwood city, the county seat, about twenty-eight miles south from
San Francisco, is situated on the edge of a broad plain, extending
from an estuary of the bay of San Francisco, through which passes
Bedwood creek, navigable a short distance for schooners, drawing seven
feet of water. This plain is but little above the level of high tide,
large patches of it being a salt marsh. It gradually rises as it ap-
proaches the mountains, most of it being under cultivation. The city,
which was f oxmded in 1851, contains many good stores and private, as
well as public, buildings; several churches and schools, and about
eight hundred inhabitants. It is the chief shipping place for the
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144 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
county; considerable quantities of redwood, lumber, firewood, grain,
flour, fruit and vegetables, milk, butter, cheese, and other produce,
are sent from here to the San Francisco market.
Half Moon bay, about twenty miles north-west from Kedwood city,
on the opposite side of the peninsulaj is the shipping port for that por-
tion of the county.
There are several other towns and villages in this county, the chief
employment of the inhabitants of which is farming and lumbering.
The Canada del Beymundo, situated nearly in the center of the
county, enclosed between lofty mountains, is one of the most beautiful
places in the coast-range — about six miles in length, by about two
miles wide, the surrounding mountains covered nearly to their sum-
mits with live oak, madrona, bay, laurel, maple and young redwood ;
the lower hills with buckeye, elder, willow, and alder; every level spot
a grain field, garden, orchard, or grassy meadow, with cottages peeping
out of nooks and comers; while the running water from numerous
springs, and the music of swarms of birds that nestle in the thick im-
derbrush, all combine to form a scene so secluded and peculiarly rural,
that it is not possible to conceive anything more in contrast with the
dust and turmoil of San Francisco, only two hours' ride distant. The
whole of this charming glen was included in a grant made by the
Me3dcan Government, to John Coppinger, one of the early settlers; but
it has since been subdivided among a number of persons, and now
forms one of the most important farming and stock-raising districts in
the county.
San Andreas valley, near the headwaters of the San Mateo creek,
which gives name to the county, is a similar, but somewhat smaller
valley.
Crystal Springs, where a number of springs of clear, cold water
break through the rocks in a beautiful canon, is one of the resorts of
the people of San Francisco. The roads are good, and the scenery
fine in the vicinity.
The greater portion of the water used for domestic purposes in San
Francisco, is obtained from Pillarcitos creek, in this county, whence
it is conveyed by means of iron pipes a distance of twenty miles.
The Spring Valley "Water company have constructed extensive works in
the Pillarcitos canon for the purpose of collecting and distributing this
water. Their dam has formed a beautiful lake, two miles in length by
about one thousand feet in average width, which is surrounded by pre-
cipitous hills, combining to make it one of the most attractive spots
within so convenient a distance from San Francisco. This dam crosses
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COUNTIES OP CALIFOBNU. 145
the canon at a point where it makes a short curve, is five hundred
and forty feet long on the top, and three hundred feet at bottom; four
hundred and fifty feet thick at base, and tweniy feet thick at a height of
ninety-six feet ; the water within it being of an average depth of fifty
feet, but nearly one hundred feet in some places. The quantity thus
collected amounts to about 1,300,000,000 gallons — sufficient to supply
the city for two years at the present rate of consumption, if no rain
were to faU during that time. This large body of water is six hun-
dred and thiriy feet above the level of Montgomery street, so that by
mere pressure the supply can be extended over any portion of the ciiy.
The geological formation of the mountains in the vicinity of this lake
being chiefly granite, limestone, and indurated slate, the water is gen-
erally clear, but to insure the utmost purity, it is passed through beds
of gravel, sand and charcoal, before distribution.
The Corte Madera Water company's works are located in the foot
hills, about seven miles west of Redwood City, where they collect the
waters of Bear gulch, a branch of the San Francisquito. Their reser-
voir holds 30,000,000 gallons of water, and supplies Bedwood City and
Menlo Park.
In minerals^ San Mateo is one of the poorest counties in the State.
In July, 1863, a vein of auriferous quartz was discovered in the San
Andreas valley, and gold and silver have been found in small quantities
at other places. Sulphur, and sulphur springs, are known to exist in
several localities, and coal has also been found near the Mountain Home
mill, and at other points on both slopes of the mountains.
SAN PRANCISCO COUNTT.
As a separate chapter will be devoted to the history^ and resources
of this couniy, its topography is omitted from the division of coast
counties.
ALAMEDA COUNTY.
Alameda county forms the eastern shore of San Francisco bay, for
about thirty-six miles, running in a north-westerly and south-easterly
direction, and extends from the bay, on the west, to the summit of the
Monte Diablo range, a distance of nearly thirty-five miles. It con-
tains about 800 square miles, or 512,000 acres, nearly equally divided
between mountains, valleys, and plains. Nearly 175,000 acres are en-
closed, and 125,000 under cultivation. About 20,000 acres along the
margin of the bay, are overflowed by the tide.
The Contra Costa and Monte Diablo ranges of the coast moun-
tains, cross this county from north to south, running nearly parallel,
10
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146 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
and separated by a few miles, the former being the more westerly.
Numerous spurs from each project, at various angles, forming a series
of beautiful and fertile valleys, all connected with each other, but
having different names where thus partially separated by these spurs.
Among the most important of these valleys, are Livermore, Sunol,
Castro, Amador, and Morago. The plains embrace the nearly level
land stretching along the shore of the bay, from Alviso to San Pablo, a
distance of forty miles. This strip lies between the bay of San Fran-
cisco and the foothills to the east, and has an average width of about
five miles. These valleys and plains are mostly covered with a rich,
loamy soil, much of which is under a high state of cultivation, and
produces abundantly.
The principal stream in this county, and from which it derives its
name, is the Alameda creek. It rises in the Monte Diablo range, near
Livermore pass, and running through a canon in the Contra Costa
mountains, near the old mission of San Jose, empties into San Fran-
cisco bay, near Unionville, supplying water-power for several grist and
other mills on the way. The San Lorenzo, San Leandro, San Antonio,
and Temescal creeks, rise in the Contra Costa mountains and flow into
the bay, through the Alameda plains. There are several navigable
sloughs running through the overflowed lands and connecting with
these streams. Near the north end of the county is San Antonio creek,
on the north shore of which is situated the city of Oakland. At the
mouth of San Leandro creek, is the bay of San Leandro, on which the
town of Alameda is located. Extensive wharves and piers have been
erected at these places, and the bars obstructing the channels leading
to them have been deepened and improved, so that vessels of consider-
able burden can arrive and depart at any stage of the tide*
There are several low passes through both the mountain ranges —
Livermore, on the north, through the Monte Diablo range, thirty
miles from the bay, being only six hundred and eighiy-eight feet high ;
the Western Pacific railroad will be built through this pass. Corral
Hollow pass, in the same range, lies ten miles south of Livermore's.
These low passes, the long stretches of level land, with the proximity
of Alameda county to San Francisco, secure to it great advantages.
The San Francisco and Alameda railroad, opened August, 1865, com-
mences at Woodstock, on the slough at the mouth of San Leandro
creek where a wharf projects some distance into the bay, and extends
to Hayward's, sixteen and a half miles south-east, among the foothills
of the Contra Costa mountains. It runs through a fine level country,
cultivated almost every foot of the way, and has numerous stations con-
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COUNTIES OF GALIFORNLL
147
nected with cross-roads, by means of which the products of a wide
extent of country are rapidly transported to San Francisco. This road
will connect with the Western Pacific, at Washington Comers, thirteen
miles south of Hayward's.
The Oakland and San Francisco railroad, opened in April, 1863,
begins on a pier, extending 3,500 feet into the bay of San Francisco,
opposite the ciiy of Oakland, and runs to San Antonio, five miles, and
is soon to be extended, to form a junction with the Alameda road.
The distance from San Francisco to the western terminus of this line,
is four and a third miles, but arrangements are in progress to extend
the wharf toward Goat (Terba Buena) island, about three-fourths of a
mile beyond the present terminus. When this work shall be com-
pleted, the distance to be traversed by boats will not exceed three miles
and three quarters. At present, it requires forty-five minutes to cross
from San Francisco to Oakland. The boats running on these routes
are capacious and swift, and arrive and depart nearly every hour in
the day.
With the exception of a belt of evergreen-oak, quercm agri/dta,
which margins the bay, and gives name to the several encinals (encinal
being the Spanish word for an oak grove), a few groves of deciduous
oak, queraia sonomensis, and a smaU number of redwood trees in
the mountains south of Sunol valley and east of Fruitvale, the
county is at present poorly timbered. It was in a much better condi-
tion, in this respect, a few years ago. The redwood at one time grew
to an enormous size in the mountains about five miles east from San
Antonio. The remains of a forest of these trees exist at this place,
which is about half a mile wide, and extends down the eastern slope of
the mountains about two miles. Here grew hundreds of the largest
trees that have been found in the Coast Bange. One stump still remain-
ing in tolerable preservation, measures thirty-two feet in diameter.
Nearly every tree in this once noble forest, has been cut down and con-
verted into lumber, but the ground is thickly covered with vigorous
saplings, which, in a few years, may form another fine forest, as this
tree grows with great rapidity.
The soil of the plains in this county is generally a rich, black,
sandy loam, from six to fifteen feet deep, resting on a substratum of
sand and gravel, and is sufficiently moist to grow any description of
fruit, grain, or vegetables, without irrigation. The soil on the foot-
hills and mountains is somewhat lighter in color, not so deep, but
gravelly and dry, and everywhere fertile.
With so fine a soil and climate, and with so many facilities and
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148 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNLL
inducements for its cultivation, the greater portion of this county, ad-
jacent to the bay of San Francisco, has been converted into continuous
gardens, orchards, and girain-fields ; but much of the best land in the
south-e€kstem part of the county, east of the Contra Costa mountains,
including portions of the Amador and Sunol valleys, is but partially
cultivated, for want of the cheap and expeditious transportation sup-
plied by raibroads.
Thirteen miles south-east from Oakl€uid, on the northern bank of
the San Lorenzo creek, is the garden from which Oregon obtained its
best apple, and other fruit-trees. In 1846, Mr. John Lewelling, the
pioneer nurseryman of the Pacific coast, took a wagon-load of fruit-
trees raised here, into that State^ which were among the first ever
planted there. In this vicinity are several other extensive nursery and
seed gardens, the soil and climate being peculiarly well fitted for horti-
cultural purposes. Here, Mr. Daniel L. Perkins raised the hundred
and thirty varieties of vegetable seeds exhibited at the Paris Exposi-
tion, in 1867, for which he obtained a premium, and, what proved
more profitable, numerous orders for supplies from the Atlantic States,
France, England, Germany, Bussia, China, Japan, and several other
countries. The products, of this gentleman's little patch, of about
twelve acres, thus spreading over the three great continents, is singu-
larly suggestive of the silent but eflTective influence the productions of
California are exerting abroad.
To illustrate the richness of the soil in this locality, and the propor-
tions of the vegetables raised here, we mention the following facts :
A beet raised in Mr. LeweUing's garden, weighed 200 lbs. ; in 1867,
Mr. R S. Farelly raised a carrot which measured 36 inches in length
and 31 inches in circiunference, weighing 31 pounds after the leaves
were cut oflf. These mammoth proportions are not confined to the
vegetables raised here, but extend to fruits, flowers, and berries.
Cherries of the Grafian variety, grown in Lewelling's orchard, in 1867,
were selling in the streets of San Francisco, which measured three
inches in circumference ; pears raised here frequently weigh three and
a half pounds ; strawberries, which are extensively cultivated, also
grow to an extraordinary size. Mr. Pancoast, who in 1867 cultivated
a patch of eighty acres, raised many berries weighing from one and a
quarter to one and a half ounces each. Mr. A. Lusk has a field of
raspberries in this vicinity, containing upwards of eighty-five acres,
which produces enormous quantities of this delicious fruit, and there
are several other quite extensive strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry
patches — all of which are more particularly referred to under the
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COUNTIES OP C3ALIF0RNIA. 149
head of "Fruits." The above are merely mentioned in this place with
a yiew to illnstrate the extreme richness of the soil in this locality.
Amador valley, formerly the vaUey of San Jos^, where the padres of
that old mission pastured their cattle, is now the great grain district
of this county. It is of a triangular form, about eight miles in dia-
meter, and nearly surrounded by low, grassy hills, being spurs of the
Monte Diablo and Contra Costa ranges. Its soil is a moist, sandy
loam, producing good crops of wheat, barley, and com, when less
favored districts suffer from drought Where not under cultivation, its
surface is covered with thick crops of wild oats and bur clover, the
most nutritious of all the native grasses. Less than ten years since,
this valley was a cattle-ranch— 20,000 cattle, 15,000 sheep, and 3,000
horses finding abundant pasturage in the vicinity. But it is aU fenced
in now, and no cattle except milch cows, working oxen, and horses,
graze on the surrounding hills.
The increase in the value of land in this valley, since it has been
brought under cultivation, and its productiveness ascertained, has been
very considerable. In October, 1867, 3,000 acres of the Bancho el
Valle de San Jos^ (at the lower end of it) were purchased for $70,000 ;
two years previously the purchaser had declined the same property
when offered for $13,500.
In Livermore valley are located some of the largest grain fields in
the State. In 1867 Sichard Threlfall cropped here 4,000 acres, all em-
braced in one field that averaged 24 bushels to the acre; some portions
as much as 40 bushels averaging 62 lbs. per bushel. On the eastern
side of this field, where the rays of the sun reached the grain in the
early morning, while the dew remained upon it, it appeared almost
solid enough to walk upon. The tall straw, nearly four feet high,
was perfectly straight, and the compact growth of the ears rendered it
impossible for the heavier to droop. When threshed, almost every
grain in the immense field was of the same size, and color, pale and
plump, as good California wheat always is. This grain farm gives
employment to 60 men, 140 horses and mules ; uses three herders, five
reaping machines, and two steam threshers. In the ploughing sea-
son, eighty acres are ploughed, sowed, and harrowed, daily.
In reference to the products of this valley, the yield above stated,
although quite large, as compared with that usually obtained in
other countries, is not quite up to the average in this locality, such
lai^e fields not being as well managed as smaller ones. On the Santa
Eita ranch adjoining, 100 acres yielded 75 bushels per acre ; a field of
60 acres, in the same valley, producing 80 bushels to the acre.
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150 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNLL
Connected with the Amador valley, are two smaller valleys — ^the
Alamo and Tasajera, both equally fertile. The whole of these valleys,
and a considerable tract lying adjacent, were included in the rancho
once owned by Jos^ Amador, whose name it now bears. This individ-
ual also gives name to Amador county, as will be explained when de-
scribing that couniy. Amador, in 1850, sold this property to Ameri-
cans for a trifle. In 1866, one of his sons obtained a precarious living
as a squatter among the hills that surround the vaUey in which he was
bom, and which, during the past three years, under American enter-
prise and energy, has produced upwards of a million dollars' worth of
grain.
Oakland, the most thrifty and important town in Alameda couniy,
contains about 6,000 inhabitants. It is located in what was once a fine
grove of 1,500 acres of evei^een oaks — ^the Encinal de Temescal of the
native Califomians — directly opposite San Francisco, from which it is
distant seven miles. In appearance, the California evergreen oak
resembles a large apple-tree, so that the city, looking as if built in a
huge orchard, bears a charming contrast to the treeless streets of San
Francisco. Scarcely any town in the State has made greater progress,
during the past three years, than Oakland ; the value of its real estate
and the number of its inhabitants having nearly doubled within that
time. Although not laid out as a town till 1851, it contains many
elegant and subst^aitial public and private buildings, has well paved
Streets; is lighted with gas, and is in a fair way of being amply sup-
plied in a short time with good water. The excellence of the climate,
the beauty of the surrounding scenery, and its^proximiiy to San Fran-
cisco, have induced many doing business in that city to build their
homes in the groves of Oakland, or among the hills around it. The
College of California and other public, as well as several private edu-
cational institutions, are located here. The sons and daughters of the
well-to-do citizens from all parts of the State and from Nevada, as well
as many youth of both sexes from Mexico, the Sandwich islands, and
several pupils from Japan, are educated here.
The State asylum for the deaf and dumb, and blind, is situated
near Oakland. This useful institution has been erected on a gently
sloping eminence in the lower foothills of the Contra Costa mountains,
commanding a splendid view of San Francisco bay and its surround-
ings. The proportions of the building are 192 feet front by 148 feet in
depth. It is three stories and a half high, being 62 feet to the gables
and 145 to the top of the tower. Its exterior walls are built of a fine,
bluish granite, found in the vicinity; the interior work being of brick.
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBNIA. 151
The siyle is what may be termed domestic gothic, with high, steep
roof, hirge mtdlioned and transomed windows, tower and buttress^
angles of cut stone ; a handsome porch, of the same material, adorns
the center of the main front, all the interior fittings being of the most
improved style for such establishments. Everything that Christian
charity, and a generous liberaliiy could accomplish towards alleviating
the afflictions of its unfortunate inmates, has been attended to. The
building and its furniture, when complete, will cost the State upwards
of $175,000.
Among other improvements in progress at Oakland, are the exten-
sion of the wharf, from the main land towards Yerba Buena island,
a distance of three fourths of a mile; and the erection of the new State
Mining and Agricultural College.
Brooklyn, a thriving town, comprising the localities known as Clin-
ton and San Antonio, separated from Oakland by San Antonio creek, is
rapidly increasing in importance as a manufacturing center. In addi-
tion to the cotton factory located there, this is also the site of one of
the largest shoe factories on the coast, as well as of a tannery, pot-
tery, and last factory, which, collectively, give employment to a large
number of men and women.
Factories, like some kinds of animals and plants, appear to be gre-
garious, thriving best when considerable numbers are congregated in
the same locality. There is scarcely an instance, on this coast, where
a factory of any kind has been successfully established, but that it has
been soon after followed by one or more others at the same place.
This curious fact should operate to encourage every communily to aid
in establishing these industrial institutions in their midst.
The mill of the Oakland Cotton Manufacturing Company, is a two-
story brick structure, 90 by 45 feet, with two wings 20 by 30 feet each.
It contains 35 looms, and the necessary machinery for a first-class
establishment. It is driven by a 45 horse-power steam-engine, and
gives employment to about 100 persona, men and women, engaged in
weaving or in making up into clothing and other articles, the tweeds,
cassimers, and cotton-cloth produced. The first piece of cotton-cloth
woven in the State, was made here in September, 1865. Since then,
the works have been kept steadily in operation, turning out about fifty
thousand yards per month, chiefly 4-4 cotton for flour-bags, and sheet-
ing for the Mexican market. In November, 1867, considerable im-
provements, with an enlargement of the works, were commenced, for
the purpose of manufacturing bagging material, of which upwards of
$1,200,000 worth is annually imported and made into grain and flour
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152 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CAUFOBNIA.
sacks, at various points in the State. A little of the cotton used at this
mill, is of California growth. Details, touching its caltiyation in this
State, will be found elsewhere in these pages.
Fruitvale, situated about one and a half miles south-east of Brook*
Ijn, in a charming little valley nestled among the foothills of the
Contra Costa mountains, is, as its name implies, a noted place for
fruit, nearly all kinds of which grow there with little labor, and of rare
excellence. A number of the business men of San Francisco have
their homes in or about Fruitvale.
Alameda, a town two miles south of Oakland, is situated upon a
peninsula nearly two miles wide, called the Encinal de San Antonio,
lying between the San Lorenzo and San Antonia creeks. It was laid
off as a town in 1852, and is now a thrifty place, containing many good
buildings and about 1,200 inhabitants.
San Leandro, the county seat of Alameda county, a pleasant rural
town, with several substantial public, and many handsome private
buildings, is situated near the San Leandro creek, about seven miles
south of Oakl€uid, on the edge of a fertile and well cultivated plain, the
surrounding country being a succession of gardens and orchards, and
grain-fields. It contains about five hundred inhabitants.
Hayward's, six miles south-easterly from San Leandro, is a new
and rapidly improving town. It owes much of its importance to the
fact of its being connected with the bay of San Francisco, by the Ala-
meda railroad, rendering it the shipping point for an extensive agrictd-
tural district Here is stored, ready for transportation, the grain
produced over an area of f oriy or fifty square miles. To accommodate
this business, a number of large warehouses have been erected at this
place. In 1865, a brick granary, 223 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 20
feet high, was built here ; but, it being found inadequate for the
increasing crops, another was added to it during the year 1867, 306 feet
long, 60 feet in width, and 25 feet high. The two have been found
insufficient to hold the products of the district at certain seasons when
the railroad is unable to carry away aU that offers for transportation.
At this place is also located the chief cattle-market of the State —
the property of an incorporate company styled the "Butchers', Drov-
ers', and Stockraisers' Association," organized in January, 1866. In
that year, 11,928 animals were sold here, valued at $182,600. In 1867,
the number of animals sold exceeded 20,000, valued at $500,000.
Alvarado, a thriving village of several hundred inhabitants, is
located about ten miles south from San Leandro, on the banks of Ala-
meda creek. It stands about five miles from the bay of San Francisco,
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNU. 153
being in the district of swamped and overflowed land already men-
tioned. The chief occupation of the inhabitants of this place is the
collection of salt, which forms in large quantities on the land over-
flowed by the waters of the bay. There are eighteen companies en-
gaged in this business, whose works extend nearly twelve miles along
the eastern shore of the bay, and aflbrd employment to some one hun-
dred and fifty men. The quantity of salt annually collected exceeds
10,000 tons, of the average value of $8 per ton. The whole of it is col-
lected and purified by solar evaporation* The salt-water is retained in
reservoirs, during high tides, and evaporated in shallow ponds ranging
in size from twenty to five hundred acres. Some of these salt-ponds —
formed mostly of earth — ^are located in swamps, which, though a few
years since deemed absolutely worthless, are now valued at from four
to ten dollars per acre ; and, since the demand for salt is likely to
extend as the fisheries on this coast increase, the value of these lands
will no doubt continue to appreciate.
The old mission of San Jos^ is situated in the southern part of this
county. It occupies a handsome valley among the lower foothills of
the Contra Costa range, facing the bay. A hamlet has sprung up
around the old mission buildings, which being in good repair, are still
used as a Catholic church. The old gardens and orchards are among
the best in the district, a pear-orchard, planted by the missionaries,
producing a large crop of fruit annually. About two miles from the
old mission of San Jos^, near the banks of the Agua Caliente (hot
water) creek, in the midst of a beautiful grove of oak and other trees,
are the Alameda warm springs. The fine climate and pleasant sur-
roundings of the place, with its ready accessibility, render it one of the
most popular resorts in the neighborhood of San Francisco. To the
east, Mission peak, the culminating point of the Contra Costa moun-
tabis, attains a height of 2,275 feet, presenting with its angular
outlines, its grassy sides, and patches of shrubbery, a grand back-
ground to the intervening landscape. From the peak, a fine view is
obtained of San Jos^, Oakland, and of the city and bay of San Fran-
cisco. The hotel arrangements, and the attention guests receive here,
are highly spoken of by visitors, who are numerous during the summer
season. The waters are medicinal, containing sulphur, lime, magnesia,,
and iron, in various proportions.
Alameda county contains large quarries of granite, limestone and
sandstone, suitable for building purposes. The quarry from which the
stone used in erecting the Deaf and Dumb and Blind Asylum was
obtained, is situated on Pryal's ranch, about four miles from Oakland.
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154 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
The supply of this stone is exhaustless. A quarry of close-grained,
greyish sandstone, has recently been opened about four miles from
Hayward's. Nearly aU the brown sandstone used in San Francisco, is
obtained from quarries in this vicinity.
In 1864 Mr. A, D. Pryal, owner of a large ranch about four miles
east from Oakland, discovered a vein of auriferous quartz in the Contra
Costa hills, which cross his lands. Some of the specimens from this
vein were rich in free gold, and the mine opened under the name of
Temescal, paid well for a short time, but the dislocation of the strata,
a little below the surface, rendered its further working unprofitable.
In 1862 and 1863, several small deposits of argentiferous galena,
and other silver ores, were discovered in the Mocho and Valle Arroyos,
among the spurs of the Monte Diablo and Contra Costa mountains.
In 1856, extensive outcroppings of coal were found at Corral hol-
low, in this county, about thiriy miles east from Oakland, and several
attempts since then have been made to develop a number of veins in
this viciniiy. Prior to 1860, about five hundred tons of coal were sent
to market ; and in 1862, some shipments were also made, chiefly from
the O'Brien mine. In 1867, a new company was organized, and the
requisite machinery erected here, for the thorough development of
what is supposed to be an extensive deposit of this mineral.
Petroleum has been found at several points on the western slope of
the Monte Diablo range.
Alameda county contains seven grist-mills, capable of making 1,200
barrels of flour daily; but, having no timber fit for lumber, it is with-
out saw-mills — its chief sources of wealth being its grain, fruit, and
dairy products.
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY.
This county derives its name from the central range of the coast-
mountains, which cover a considerable portion of its surface. It is
about forty miles in length, from east to west, an^d twenty miles wide,
from north to south ; but its outlines are very irregular, being bounded
on the north by San Pablo and Suisun bays, and the San Joaquin
river ; on the east, by the western channel of that river ; on the south,
by Alameda county, and on the west, by the bay of San Francisco.
It contains upwards of 500,000 acres, about 150,000 of which are good
arable land, nearly 100,000 acres being under cultivation. This land
lies chiefly in the numerous small valleys scattered through the Contra
Costa and Monte Diablo ranges of mountains, which cross the county in
a northerly and southerly direction. There are 100,000 acres of swamp
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COUNTIES OF CALIFORNU. 155
and overflowed lands in this county, situated about the margins of
Suisun bay and along the banks of the San Joaquin riyer, much of it
being reclaimable. Portions of it, brought under cultivation, have
been found to produce good crops of grain, fruit, and vegetables, with-
out irrigation. There is a sweep of this tide land in the north-east
comer of the county, of upwards of 75,000 acres subject to overflow
during wet seasons, which, if protected by a levee, would become one
of the most valuable agricultural sections of the county. Mountains
and hiUs cover about 250,000 acres, including Monte Diablo, which
contains the most important coal-mines in the State.
San Ramon, the finest valley in the county, is a continuation of
Amador valley, described in the topography of Alameda county. It is
equally fertile throughout, and extends quite across the county under
difierent names ; the upper portion extending a distance of ten miles^
where it unites with the Amador valley, is called San Eamon valley,
and the lower portion, through which Pacheco creek runs, is called
Pacheco valley. On the east side of this lower valley, and opening into
it, is the Diablo valley, extending to the base of Monte Diablo. On the
west is Taylor valley, through which passes the road from Oakland to
Martinez. There are numerous smaller valleys on both sides of these
larger ones, all connected by wagon roads, and many of them fertile
and well cultivated. The average crops, for several years past, in most
of these valleys, have been thirty bushels of wheat, or fifly bushels of
barley to the acre.
The Hambre, or Hungry valley, at the mouth of which the town of
Martinez, the county seat, is located, is separated from the main valley
system by a range of low hills — a portion of the Monte Diablo range —
which aflbrd excellent pasturage for cattle and sheep. The counly, in
1867, contained 27,000 sheep, 11,000 cattle, and 8,000 horses.
The subordinate group of elevations, which lies to the west of Mar-
tinez, is known as the Contra Costa hills, which extend through this
and the adjoining counties of Alameda and Santa Cruz, being separated
from the main Monte Diablo range by a chain of beautiful valleys
nearly sixty miles in length.
The principal streams in this county are the San Pablo and San
Bamon creeks, the former rising in the Contra Costa hills and emptying
into San Pablo bay, the latter rising in the Monte Diablo range, near
Livermore's pass, and emptying into Suisun bay, about five miles south-
east from Martinez. When this creek reaches the tules it becomes a
tide water stream, navigable at high tide for schooners drawing six
feet of water. The town of Pacheco was f ounded, near the head of
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156 THE NATUKAL WEALTH OF CAUFORNTA.
nayigation, in 1858, and has since become the most important shipping
port and business centre in the county. The place contains large
stores, granaries, churches and schools, and about six hundred inhabit-
tants, who do a thriving business with the numerous rural communi-
ties scattered throughout the adjoining valleys ; 700,000 bushels of
wheat, besides other products, were shipped from this place in 1867.
The population of this county and the value of property in it,
have greatly increased since 1860, in consequence of the settlement
of land titles — ^nearly the entire county having been previously
claimed by Mexican grant holders — a number of diflferent parties some-
times advancing claims to the same tract of land. This conflict of
ownership prevented settlers, for many years, making improvements ;
but since the adjustment of these land questions, the population and
wealth of the county have increased rapidly. In 1860 it contained
6,328 inhabitants, and the value of all the property in it was assessed
at $600,000. At the close of 1867, it contained about 10,000 inhabit-
ants, nearly three thousand of whom were children under fifteen years
of age — ^less than two himdred Mexicans and Spaniards; and the value
of its real and personal property exceeded $4,000,000.
On the northwestern comer of this county, at the mouth of San
Pablo creek, is the original San Pablo bay, the name of which has
since been applied to the great central division of the bay of San Fran-
cisco, which was formerly called the bay of Sonoma. The level lands
in this section of the county produce heavy crops of grain and fruit.
Contra Costa county at present contains but little timber, except
oak. At one time there was a fine forest of redwood in the mountains,
a few miles east of the bay of San Francisco, but its proximity to the
city caused its early conversion into lumber, much also being split into
rails for fencing purposes. At present, only a few trees in spots diffi-
cult of access, are left standing. The redwood being tenacious of life,
it is not an easy matter to kill or eradicate its roots, wherefore, there is
a possibility of this forest renewing itself in process of time, if pro-
tected from the wood cutter's depredations. On the hills that skirt the
base of Monte Diablo grow a few scattered pines of an inferior species,
worth but little for lumber. At present there is not a saw mill in the
county — a fact that sufficiently indicates how completely it has been
stripped of what valuable timber it once may have contained.
The climate of this county, influenced by the position and height
of its mountains, is subject to great variations. Monte Diablo, a prom-
inent landmark in this part of the State, 3,381 feet high, is the princi-
pal agent in producing these atmospheric changes. This mountain is
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNU. 157
supposed to have been at one time a volcano, a presumption strength-
ened by the double cone forming its summit when viewed from the east,
caused by the breaking away of the rim of its crater on that side.
It is situated in the northern part of the county, and has a length of
eight or ten by a breadth of five or six miles. It is somewhat crescent-
shaped, the concavity opening to the northeast, and forms a barrier to
the winds coming from both the interior and the sea, which sometimes
blow with great violence about its base, while the atmosphere higher
up its sides is but little disturbed and even quite calm at its summit
It is a grand and singular sight to see from its top, where all is clear
and tranquil, the clouds rolling in stormy commotion far below. These
atmospheric phenomena are most strikingly manifested after mid-day,
in the faU of the year. For several hours in the afternoon, the dry and
heated air from the interior sweeps up the mountain with a strong cur-
rent. About three o'clock the moist air from the ocean begins to reach
it, and the two currents meeting, form fleecy clouds which hang around
its base and fill its lower valleys, condensing, as the night comes on,
into heavy and refreshing dews.
The climate in the northwestern portion of this county is sometimes
quite cool, and frosts are frequent, but, where sheltered, fruits of all
descriptions grow luxuriantly. Dr. John Strentzel, a Pole, one of the
pioneer settlers in the county, has a fine orchard of about forty acres in
the Canada de Hambre, two miles frOm the town of Martinez, in which
oranges are grown in the open air.
Juan B. Alvarado, who was governor of Califomia from 1836 to
1842, when it was Mexican territory, cidtivated an orchard in this
vicinity, the apples and pears from which, for several years after Cali-
fomia became a State, produced him a larger revenue than did the
office of governor.
Dr. John Marsh, was one of the earliest American settlers in this
county, and, in 1840, purchased a tract of land now known as the New
York ranch, located about thirty mUes from Martinez. The history of
this eccentric man is replete with interest. Educated a physician,
and possessed of ample means, on the death of his wife he left his early
home and only child in the State of Wisconsin, and coming to Califomia,
took up his residence in a canada at the base of Monte Diablo, now
known as Marsh's canon. Here, living in rude independence, after the
manner of the country, he became the owner of immense herds of
cattle, which, with his landed possessions, made him rich under the
new order of things inaugurated by the discovery of gold in Califor-
nia. In the meantime, his son, who had grown up to manhood, having
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158 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALTFORNLL
heard from returned Califomians that there was a Dr. Marsh living in
that country, and suspecting that it might be his father, left his home
at Petersburg, Illinois, and came out to this State, arriving at San
Francisco in March, 1856. Having ascertained the residence of the
person whom he was in search of, he at once proceeded to the place and
found that he was indeed his long absent parent, with whom he took up
his abode, remaining with him imtil the time of his death, which
occurred in the autumn of the same year. Dr. Marsh, while on his way
to San Francisco, was waylaid and murdered, it being supposed that he
had a large sum of money on his person. The murderer, after escaping
for more than ten years, was finally apprehended and convicted of the
crime.
This county was not generally settled until 1850, there not being a
town in it the origin of which dates prior to the discovery of gold, in
1848. One of the first American families settling within its borders
was that of Elam Brown, who built a house in Taylor valley, in 1847,
near the spot where he now resides.
Martinez, the county seat, is situated in a valley on the south shore
of the straits of Carquinez, opposite the town of Benicia. The straits
at this point are about three miles wide and eight long, lying between
gently-swelling hills, cultivated to their summits. The town contains
several fine public and private buildings, with a number of churches,
many of the dwellings being surroimded by orchards and gardens.
It is the center of a considerable trade, has good wharves for the ship-
ment of produce, and is connected with Benicia by a steamboat ferry.
The coal mines in this couniy, to the development of which it owes
much of its present prosperity, are located about six miles south from
the San Joaquin river. A nearly level plain extends from the river
(where there is an average depth of thirty feet of water,) to the foot-
hills of the mountains, and within a mile of the Black Diamond com-
pany's tunnels, at Nortonville. These tunnels enter on the northeast
side of the mountain, and follow a number of seams to the wesi Only
two of these seams are worked at present — the Black Diamond and
Clark — ^the former averaging four feet, and the latter about three feet
in thickness. Both lie at an angle of thirty degrees, and dip nearly
north. These mines, although, as above explained, within five miles of
navigable water, are located among the peaks and deep canons of such
a rugged country that the difficulties and expense attending the trans-
portation of so bulky an article as coal impeded their development
until February, 1866, when the Pittsburg railroad was completed. In
the construction of this road, only five and a half miles in length, from
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA. 169
the mines to the wharf at Pittsburg Landing, many obstacles were
encountered. To the plain, from the mines, a distance of a mile and a
half, the road has the unusual gradient of two hundred and seventj-
four feet to a mile, that of the balance being from forty to one hundred
and sixty feet to the mile. The rugged chaiacter of the country may
be inferred from the fact that to complete the first mile and a half of
this road eight large trestle bridges had to be built, the largest being
three hundred and four feet long by sixty feet high. A tunnel, three
hundred feet in length, was required to be cut through a steep rocky
ridge — a number of deep cuts were excavated, and heavy culverts con-
structed. When the road was completed, it was found necessary to
have locomotives of a peculiar pattern, to overcome the difficulties of
ascending and descending such steep grades. Accordingly, a style of
engine was invented and made at San Francisco, weighing seventeen
tons, and supplied with three pairs of thirty-six inch driving wheels,
and complex, powerful brakes. The friction of these locomotives, when
descending the incline in front of a train of loaded cars is, of course,
great, but, thus far, no serious accident has occurred. This road,
which cost 1145,000, has a capacity to transport over it three thousand
ions of coal daily. The Pittsburg, Union and Eureka companies all
send their coal over it.
The Black Diamond company have built a railroad which terminates
at New York, a town six miles west of Pittsburg landing. The arrange-
ments made by this company to convey their coal from the mine to the
vessels at the wharf afibrd another good illustration of engineering
skill — ^the mouth of the main adit of the mine being nearly five hun-
dred feet above the level of the plain. To avoid the steep grade that
would be necessary were a railroad employed, a massive incline has
been constructed, nearly nine hundred feet in length, at an angle of
fifteen degrees, which connects with the railroad at the lower end. By
means of a thick wire rope passing over an iron cylinder, nine feet in
diameter, the loaded cars descending puU up the empty ones. This
road, since first built, has undergone material alterations, involving a
heavy outlay of money. The arrangements at the wharves of both
roads are similar, and vessels of five hundred tons burthen are loaded
in a few hours by means of shutes passing from the cars. These
mines give employment to upwards of one thousand men.
Prior to the construction of the railroads mentioned, Antioch, a
small town on the San Joaquin river, was the shipping point of all the
coal mines. Owing to its many natural advantages, it continues to
grow, notwithstanding the loss of that trade. At this place are located
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160 THE NATUBAL "WEALTH OP CAUFORNLL
the California copper-smelting works, not at present in operation ; also
an extensive pottery, at which superior earthenware, fire-brick, and
crucibles, are made from clay obtained from a thick seam found accom-
panying the coal in the Black Diamond mine. The wharves here are
very substanstially constructed. The coal from the Teutonia and Cen-
tral mines is hauled to this place by teams for shipment Clay used
by the Golden State Pottery is obtained from Marsh's ranch, fourteen
miles distant. This establishment has three kilns, which are kept in
constant use. Arrangements are in progress for making white stone-
ware. Large quantities of common brick are also made here for the
San Francisco market, the soil being well suited to their manufacture.
The broad plain lying between the river and the mountains, on which
grow fair crops of the cereals, is rapidly settling up, nearly one hun-
dred families having located up'on it in 1867. Much of it, formerly
used only for pasturage, is now under cultivation. The Stockton
steamers make regular landings at Antioch, whence there are numerous
good roads communicating with the back country.
Clayton, the largest town created by the coal-mining interest, stands
at the head of Diablo valley, about eight miles from Pacheco. It occu-
pies a romantic site, being on a plateau in the midst of wide-spreading
oaks, commanding a good view of the adjacent valley and the bay, with
rugged mountains in the distance. Its origin dates only from 1862,
and, although so recently founded, there are many fine orchards, vine-
yards and gardens in the vicinity. It contains about nine hundred
inhabitants, and, considering its age, is well built up. The larger
portion of the population find employment in and about the coal-mines
near by. There are several other small towns and villages in this
county, the most of them of too little importance to require special
notice.
The soil in the valleys about Monte Diablo, consists of a fine loam,
formed by the disintegration of the calcareous and volcanic rocks, and is
well suited to the raising of vines — a business extensively carried on
in many of them. Mr. Clayton, after whom the town is named, has a
vineyard here of 30 acres, containing 30,000 vines, which, though
vigorous and prolific, have never been irrigated. He sends his grapes
to San Francisco for a market, realizing a greater profit than in making
them into wine. There are other large vineyards, with several fine
orchards bearing various kinds of fruit, elsewhere in the valley,
the aggregate number of vines it contains being estimated at
100,000, and the fruit-trees at 30,000. While much of the land in this
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OOUNTIEfl OP CALIFORNU. Kl
Talley is held at high prices, a good deal of fair quality can be bought
at prices ranging from 115 to 125 per acre.
Silver-bearing ores have been found at various places about Monte
Diablo. Sixty pounds of ore, taken from a claim known as the Open
Sesame, in 1863, yielded, by working process, at the rate of $48 33
per ton in gold, and $243 per ton in silver ; while the San Pedro ledge
yielded ore that assayed at the rate of $40 per ton. The broken strati-
fication in this district, however, has thus far rendered all attempts at
working these claims abortive.
During 1862, and the following two years, some fifty cupriferous
deposits were partially explored in the vicinity of Monte Diablo ; and,
although a considerable quantity of ore was obtained from them, it was
of too low a grade, and the seams were too much broken up, to warrant
a continuance of operations.
In 1862, large deposits of ochreous earths were discovered near
Martinez, consisting of six well defined strata, varying from three to
twenty feet in thickness. The colors of this material are red, green,
yellow and blue, with every conceivable tint formed by their blending,
the entire number of colors produced consisting of eighty varieties,
running from pale blue to a bright scarlet. The terre sienna, French
yellow, and Venetian red, were pronounced very good by the painters
who used them. Expensive works wore put up for grinding and pre-
paring this substance for market, but the enterprise failing through
the limited demand and cheap price of the imported article to prove
remunerative, was abandoned soon after.
Argillous magnesian limestone, similar to that used in making the
dry hydraidic cement at Benicia, exists near Martinez. Good potters'
clay is abundant near Lafayette, and is extensively used by the pottery
works at San Antonio, Alameda county.
Small deposits of petroleum have been observed, at various points,
in this county. Several years since, an oil-boring operation was com-
menced and carried on for some time, at a point about three miles
south-east from the town of San Pablo. This was the first eflfort of the
kind made in Califomia ; and, though conducted with a due degree of
skill and energy, it failed of success. Several attempts to procure
mineral oil in quantities have been made elsewhere in the county,
either by sinking shafts or boring, but as yet with scarcely any better
results than attended this pioneer effort. At the present time, a party
is boring for oil in Marsh's canon, and, as it is said, with prospects not
altogether discouraging.
11
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1621 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBNIA.
JCABIN CX)UKTy.
Marin county comprises the peninsula lying between San Pablo bay
and the ocean, its extreme southern portion, Point Bonita, forming the
outer headland to the entrance of the Golden Ghite. Much of the
county is covered with hills and mountains, through which are scat-
tered numerous narrow, but fertile valleys. Tamelpais, the culminating
peak in a rugged chain of mountains traversing the county from north-
west to southeast, near the sea, has an altitude of 2,600 feet ; there be-
ing several other peaks in this range of almost equal height. Much of
the land, both in the valleys and upon the hills throughout the north-
em and central portions of the county, produces an abundant pastur-
age, upon which immense herds of milch cows are fed ; more butter
being made here than in any other county in the State — the annual
1/ product approximating 1,500,000 pounds. Bedwood and pine grow on
the mountains, and oak in many of the valleys and on the lower hills.
From the former, two steam saw-mills located in the northern part of the
couniy, manufacture considerable quantities of lumber. The Pacific
Powder Mill, and the Pioneer Paper Mill, are situated on Tokeluma
or Daniel's creek, which, heading in the Tamelpais range, runs north-
west, emptying into the head of Tomales bay. The water of this
creek, owing to its infiltration through a hard granitic rock rendering
it exceedingly pure, is especially adapted to the manufacture of paper.
Tomales bay, extending inland sixteen miles in a southeasterly direc-
tion, varies in width from two to three miles. It occupies the largest
valley in a series lying between a number of parallel ridges that
occupy this section of the county. Between Tomales and Bolinas bay
lies a rich valley eight miles in extent. The town of Tomales, situated
near the entrance of the bay, is an active and growing place, much of
the produce of the adjacent country being shipped here for San Fran-
cisco. It contains a population of six or seven hundred, and occupies
a handsome site on a level bench extending back from the bay. Ole-
ma, at the head of Tomales bay, fifteen miles northwest of San Eafael,
is another thrifty town, enjoying the trade of a large dairy and agricul-
tural district, which never fails to produce heavy crops of potatoes and
grain, owing to the current of moist air from the ocean, which, passing
through the depression that here exists between the mountains, greatly
aids the growth of vegetation. Here the grass, when completely dried
up elsewhere, is found to be green and succulent
Punte de los Eeyes (King's point) forms the extremity of a high
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COUNTIES OF OALIFOBNIA. 163
rocky promontory, extending into the sea several miles in a southwest
direction, separating it from Drake's bay.
This county countains about 600 square miles — ^nearly 400,000
acres, 175,000 of which are enclosed; only about 25,000 acres are
imder cultivation ; the greater portion of the arable land being used
for pasturage. Some five or six thousand acres of the mountain lands
are covered with timber capable of being made into lumber, the swamp
and overflowed land in the county consisting of twelve thousand acres
on the margin of San Pablo bay.
Messrs. Howard <& Shafter have 75,000 acres of land enclosed in this
couniy, upon which are grazed 3,500 cows. These are divided into
seventeen dairies, the aggregate product of which is 700,000 pounds of
butter annually. Allen & Son, of (Jreen valley, have a herd of 350
milch cows, aU of choice breeds. Stock here is never housed, or fed
with anything more than is afforded by the native pasturage. The
product of butter averages about one pound daily to the animal, or
two hundred pounds for the season. This butter, if sold for no more
tlian twenty-five cents per pound — considerably less than is actually
realized — pays, in the course of two years, for cost of cows, attendance,
and interest on capital, leaving the natural increase of stock, skim-
milk and cheese, for clear profii Butter-making, where circumstances
favor, has always been found a lucrative pursuit in California, this
article never failing to find a ready market and to command a good
price ; while the localities favorable for carrying on the business on a
large scale, are by no means numerous ; an abundance of nutritious
feed, a cool climate, and at least a fair supply of water, not often being
found in conjunction. In Marin county, these advantages being en-
joyed to an unusual extent, dairymen have confined their operations
almost exclusively to this branch of the business, though the lack of
facilities for sending their milk to the San Francisco market may have
contributed towards the conversion of so large a proportion of it into
butter and cheese, there being over half a million pounds of the latter
made annually. It is estimated that there are upwards of one hundred
dairies in this county, many of them of large size. They give employ-
ment to a good many men, the usual allotment being about twenty
cows to one hand. Marin, in 1860, contained 3,334 inhabitants, the
present number being estimated at something over 5,000.
This county derives its name from Marin, a famous chief of the
Lacainit Indians, who originally occupied this part of the country, and
who, aided by his people, after having vanquished the Spaniards in
several skirmishes that took place between the years 1815 and 1824,
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164 THE NATURAL WE^ALTE OF GAUFOBNIA.
was finally captured by liis enemies. Making his escape, Marin took
shelter on f^ little island in the bay of San Francisco, and which, being
afterwards called after him, communicated its name to the mainland
adjacent. This chief having fallen into the hands of his foes a second
time, barely escaped being put to death, through the interference of
the priests at the mission San Bafael, who subsequently enjoyed the
satisfaction of seeing him converted to the true faith. He died at the
mission which had been the scenu of his rescue and conversion, in the
year 1834.
San Kafael, the county seat, occupies a handsome site, about two
miles west of San Pablo bay, and fifteen in a northerly direction from
San Francisco. Its sheltered position, being screened from the fogs
and ocean-winds by the Tamelpais range, renders it one of the most
attractive spots in the vicinity of San Francisco, many of whose busi-
ness men and wealthy citizens have erected their dwellings in the
neighborhood of the town, which abounds with beautiful and eligible
sites for the purpose. Within the past few years, a large number of
residences have been built there by this class, and other improvements
made, tending to enhance the value of properly and add to the attrac-
tions of the place.
Although nearly the whole of this county was originally covered
with Mexican grants, and there was scarcely an American settler within
its limits prior to 1850, nearly the whole of it is now owned by the
latter race, the most of its former proprietors having, with their pos-
sessions, passed away.
^ The Pioneer Paper Mill, erected in 1856, is situated about four
miles from Olema, on the road leading to San Kafael. The buildings
are spacious and substantial. The motive power used consists of both
steam and water, and the works, which employ about forty hands, are
run night and day. During the year 1867 there were made at this
establishment 384 reams of colored, 3,500 reams of news and book,
and 9,250 reams of Manilla and wrapping paper, the whole valued at
$64,800. The following embrace items of the principal material con-
sumed in the manaf acture of this paper : 300 tons of rags and old rope,
gathered chiefly in San Francisco; 250 barrels of lime, made in the
vicinity; 2,000 pounds sulphuric and muriatic acid, made at the San
Francisco Chemical "Works.
\y The Pacific Powder Mill, located about three miles east of the
Paper Mill, was completed in 1866, at a cost of $63,000. During the
year 1867 there were manufactured here about 30,000 kegs of blasting
powder, and over 2,000 packages of sporting powder. The buildings
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COUNTIES OP CALIFOBNU. 165
are distributed over an area of several hundred acres, for greater seon-
rity against explosions. Both steam and water power are used in pre-
paring the material and running the machinery. An explosion occurred
here in November, 1867, causing the death of three workmen, and
doing considerable injury to the works. The latter, however, were soon
after repaired, and are again in operation.
The State Prison is located in this county, on Point San Quentin,
twelve miles north of the city of San Francisco. The buildings, con-
structed of brick, and having a capacity for the retention of seven hun-
dred convicts, the number now imprisoned there, are situated on a tract
of land owned by the State, eight acres of which are walled in, the
balance being mostly devoted to the purposes of brick making, which
business has been carried on extensively by convict labor. The greater
portion of the prisoners, however, are employed as coopers, tailors,
cabinet makers, shoemakers, saddlers, etc., being hired out by the
State to contractors, who pay fifty cents per day for their labor.
As yet, no valuable deposits of minerals have been found in this
county, though it abounds in granite, limestone and other useful
building stone, and a number of quarries have been opened within its
limits.
SONOMA COUNTY.
Sonoma county is bounded* on the north by Mendocino and Lake
counties, on the east by Lake and Napa, and on the south, southwest,
and west by Marin county and the ocean. It is about fifty miles in
length with an average width of twenty-five miles, comprising an area of
about 850,000 acres, of which nearly 300,000 are inclosed, and 200,000
under cultivation.
The chief topographical features of this county are its four magnifi-
cent valleys, Petaluma, Sonoma, Santa Bosa and Kussian river, through
which flow considerable streams bearing their respective names. The
two former are in the southern part of the county, separated by low
mountain ridges. Crossing the northwestern and central portions of
the couniy is the more lengthy but narrow valley of the Bussian river.
Petaluma and Sonoma creeks flow southeasterly, and emniy into San
Pablo bay. They are navigable for small craft as high up as the tide
reaches — a distance of about fifteen miles. Bussian river, although a
large stream, is not navigable, owing to bars and rapids.
The northern part of the county is mountainous, being traversed by
spurs from the Coast Bange, which in some places rise to a height of
two or three thousand feet. Pine mountain, in the northwestern part
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166 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
of the county, reaches an elevation of 3,500 feet — Sulphur Peak, near
the Geysers, in the north-eastern part, being 3,471 feet high. Many of
the mountains, and even some of the lower hills, are covered with red-
wood— ^pitch, or yellow pine, (pinus ponderosa,) sugar pine (pinvs Lam'
hertiana,) spruce, or red fir, (abies DougJxmi,) and California nutmeg,
{Torreya Ccdifcyniicay) being found upon the higher ranges. Portions of
the valleys and hills are covered with a scattered growth of oak, ma-
drona, and other scrubby trees — sycamore and small willow being
found along the water courses. There are thirteen saw miUs in differ-
ent parts of the county, making lumber chiefly for local consumption,
though considerable quantities are exported from Bodega, Fort Boss,
Timber Cove and other points in the northern section of the county.
The amount of lumber manufactured in Sonoma annually is estimated
at 12,000,000 feci The most of the produce exported from the south-
em end of the county is sent from Petaluma, between which place and
San Francisco three lines of steamers and a lai^e number of small sail-
ing vessels ply constantly.
Petaluma is situated on a creek of the same name, and about a mile
above the head of navigation, a railroad having been constructed con-
necting the town witii the landing. It lies about forty-five miles north-
west of San Francisco, and is a growing place, the population having
increased from 2,500 to over 4,000, within the last four years. It now
contains seven churches, a college and a number of schoolhouses, a
planing-mill, a sash and door factory, a soap and a match factory, with
a ship-yard whereat vessels of as high as ninety tons' burden are built.
The name of the town signifies, in the Indian tongue from which it is
derived, **Duck hill," the locality having been famous as a resort for
wild ducks prior to its settlement by the whites. A railroad, extending
from some point on San Pablo bay to Healdsburg, on Bussian river,
having become an urgent necessity, the inhabitants of the county are
making strenuous efforts to secure its construction, which there is good
reason to believe will be effected at an early day, either by building a
line direct from Petaluma to Healdsburg, or continuing the Napa and
Calistoga road, now nearly finished, to that place. Once built to
Healdsburg, there is little doubt but a railroad would be prolonged up
the Bussian river valley, until by gradual stages it might reach the
interior of Mendocino county, if not ultimately the head waters of Eel
river, following down the same to some point on Humboldt bay, and
thus become the means of opening an extensive and valuable, but at
present almost inaccessible region to trade and settlement.
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OOXJNTIES OF CALIFORNIA. 167
Sonoma county enjoys an even and agreeable climate, rarely suf-
fering from the strong winds that prevail during the summer at San
Francisco, while its proximity to the ocean moderates the fierce heat of
the interior, insuring a mild and agreeable temperature throughout the
year. The moisture imparted by the sea-air to the soil, in the yalleys
a rich alluvion, and on the uplands a yeUow loam, tends to keep vege-
tation green, thereby insuring abundant pasturage and almost uni-
formly good crops in all parts of the county. In the valley of Bussian
river, good crops of Indian com can be grown without irrigation, this
being one of the few localities in the State where this cereal can be
raised with facility. The number of acres of this grain planted in the
county, in the year 1867, is estimated at 5,000, yielding 160,000 bush-
els. The country in the vicinity of Bodega is particularly well adapted
to the cidture of the potato, of which there were 4000 acres planted in
1867. producing 150,000 bushels.
The name of this county is of Indian origin, signifying, in that lan-
guage, the "valley of the moon," a term peculiarly appropriate, since
a more beautiful spot than the great Sonoma valley, seen on a moon-
light night, can scarcely be conceived of. This was also the name of a
notable chief of the Chocuyen tribe, who inhabited* this valley in the
days of the missionaries.
Santa Bosa, the county seat, situated in a valley of the same name,
about sixteen miles north from Petaluma, occupies a handsome site on
the Santa Bosa creek, a small stream which, running west, falls into
Bussian river. The town is surrounded with oak and other forest- ^
trees, and has a well fenced plaza filled with trees, shrubs and flowers.
Around this central square, the most of the stores, hotels, and other
business places, are located. The first settlement upon this spot was
made in 1852. The court-house is a fine building, besides which the
town contains several churches and school-houses, and a number of
elegant private residences. In 1860, Santa Bosa had a population of
700, which seven years later had increased to 1,800. The valley in
which it is situated is about ten miles long, and six wide. It is xmder
a high state of cultivation, and is surrounded by scenery of surpassing
beauty, the Cascade mountains, a low but picturesque range, bounding
it on the west, and a much more lofty and rugged chain on the east ;
the bold peak of Mount St. Helena, sixteen miles distant to the north-
east, lifting itself to a height of 4,343 feet.
Healdsburg another prosperous town, is located in the Bussian river
valley, at a point where it deflects to the southwest, and near the con-
fluence of that stream^ with £night's creek, having its source in Mount
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168 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIPOBNIA.
St Helena, about twenfy miles distant to the easi The town derives
its name from Harmon Heald, who, in 1846, established a trading-post
in the -vicinity, for supplying the hunters and trappers in the neigh-
boring mountains. It stands on a broad, fertile plain, having an eltir
tude of one hundred and seventy-five feet above the waters of San
Francisco bay, from which it is distant nearly fifty miles, being about
forty miles north of Petaluma. It is the natural trade-center of a large
agrlcidtural region, embracing the several valleys of Bussian river,
reaching fifty or sixty miles to the north — Knight's creek, Dry creek,
Santa Bosa, and several smaller valleys, through all of which run good
V roads converging to this place. The site of the town is no less beau-
tiful than eligible, being surrounded by scattered groves of old oaks,
and other trees of native growth, with a panorama of picturesque moun-
tains in the distance. In 1867, it contained 1,500 inhabitants, of whom
410 were children under fifteen years of age. Three years before, the
population numbered but 600, of whom 500 were adidts. The excel-
lence and cheapness of the land, together with security of title, and
the prospect of early railroad communication with the bay of San
Pablo, have contributed to greatly encourage settlement in this part
of the counfy. The majority of the inhabitants came originally from
the southern and southwestern states — a circumstance indicated not
more by the peculiarities of their manners than the style of their
houses, most of which have huge chimneys built outside, after the
custom in their early homes.
In 1841, eight square leagues of the valley, adjacent to Healdsburg,
were granted by the Mexican government to an American family by
the name of Fitch, some of whom continue to reside in the vicinity,
though nearly aU of this extensive grant has now passed from their
possession. About two miles east of the town, stands an isolated peak
some five hundred feet high, known as Fitch's mountain, being nearly
the only reminder left of this pioneer family. The view from the top
of this mountain is extremely fine, from whence may be seen Mount
St. Helena to the east, the numerous ranges of Mendocino lying north,
and the Pacific ocean on the west — the whole comprising a landscape,
abounding with striking features and diversified scenery.
The city of Sonoma is the oldest settlement in this county, the mis-
sion of San Francisco de Solano having been founded here in 1820.
The old buildings first erected still remain, though latterly converted
into a church supplied with pews, cushions, carpets, gaslight, and all
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COUNTIES OP CAMFOBNU. 169
the modem improvements in ecclesiastical decoration. In its capa-
cious auditorium, which once resounded with the uncouth jargon of
half -clad savages, is now heard the melodious voices of a weU trained
choir, mingling with the strains of instrumental music. The town is
situated about two miles east of the creek that, runs through the center
of the valley. It is distant about twenty miles southeast of Santa
Bosa^ and fifty miles northerly of San Francisco. Some of the original
houses built here are large and, though made of adobe, are two stories
high. They surround the usual courtyard, and are adorned with port-
icos and corridors after the Venetian siyle, imparting to them a com-
manding appearance — this having been the residence of the ^te of the
native Califomians. Many of them were neatly painted, and sur-
rounded with gardens, orchards, and walnut-trees. The residence of
Gen. M. G. Vallejo — a spacious buildings in which so many, both foreign
and native, once enjoyed his hospitality — ^was demolished in 1866, and
an elegant hotel erected on the spot; the former proprietor having
parted with this, as weU as with nearly all the residue of his property
in the county. The town of Sonoma^ which in 1864 contained only
five hundred inhabitants, now numbers over one thousand. The valley
, of Sonoma, about six miles wide and twenty long, is one of the most
beautiful, as well as fruitful and highly cultivated, in the State, it
being covered throughout nearly its whole extent, and, in many places,
even to the summits of the adjacent hills, with grassy pastures, grain-
fields, orchards, vineyards^ and gardens. The soil and general appear-
ance of the valley, bear a striking resemblance to the vine-districts of
Johannesberg, Hockheimer, Stienberger, and other famous wine-
producing localities in the vicinity of Bingen on the Bhine ; and there
is no doubt but the white wines of this coimty will, in a few years,
when their good qualities come to be more fully known, attain to as
great a popularity in Europe as those of the Bhenish provinces. The
yield of grapes to the vine, and also of juice, is much greater here
than in France, Italy, or Germany, many of the vineyards in Sonoma
yielding about 1,000 gallons to the acre, while in France the yield
is not over 200 ; in Germany, 250 ; and in Italy, 400 gallons to the
acre.
Appended is a list of the principal vineyards in this county, with
the number of vines and acres planted in grapes at the close of the
year 1867:
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170
THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
TINETABDS IN SONOMA. YAIiLET.
Jn thi vidmtj/ of the Town^
Propciaian. Acres. Vines.
Bnena Vista Vinionltural Society 375 380,350
Estate of General C. H. a Williams 120 84,000
Dresei & Gendlach 120 85,000
J. Lutgens 30 24,000
Haraszthy Brothers 58 70,000
Major Snyder 30 21,000
General M. G. Vallejo 50 35»000
Mrs. CoL Haraszthy. 140 300,000
Mr. MaxweU 35 25, 000
CJolonel Walton 25 18,000
On the wed side of thb VaJky.
Nicolas Carriger 180 150,000
V O. W. Craig '75 60,000
Thos. J. Ponlteror 20 15,000
W. McP. Hill 35 80, 000
George Watriss 25 20,000
Jackson Temple 50 (50,000
Lamott & Ca 30 25, 000
Adler&Co 30 25,000
Abont twenty-flye small Tineyarda, aggregating 300 235,000
M\ddU of VaUey.
Stewart & Warfleld 140 110, 000
Krohn & Williams. 60 50,000
Mr. Whemquartner 35 30,500
Seyeral small TineyardSi in alL 60 37,500
Fast side of VdOey.
James Shaw 20 16,500
Thomas Nans. 40 33,000
Lamott&Co 25 20,000 *
Sereral others in this yidnity > . . 102 100,00Q
2Jear Santa Bosa,
James Shaw , • 35 30, 000
William Hood 65 50,000
In Bennett's yaUey 170 125,000
Aboye Santa Bosa, in the yicinity of Potalnma, and the bal-
ance of the county. 400 300,000
Total 28,870 2,564,850
Of this number of vines, at least 1,000,000 are not bearing. It is
estimated there were about 400,000 vines set out in this county during
the winter of 1867-8 ; the number planted the preceding year having
been 600,000. The vineyards here are chiefly planted with the native
California vine, which thrives better without irrigation than most of
the foreign varieties, is less liable to mildew, yielding, withal, a wine
of good body and easily kept. The Sonoma wine differs from that pro-
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNU. 171
duced in other parts of the State, being lighter and more tart, and well
adapted for champagne purposes. Isador Landsberger, wine dealer,
of San Francisco, and the Buena Vista Vinicultural Society, are en-
gaged in making champagne from these wines. The former manufac-
tured from the vintage of 1866 six hundred dozen bottles of this article,
and the latter four hundred dozen. Mr. Landsberger also purchased
the entire product of 1867 from the vineyard of the Haraszthy Brothers,
amounting to 35,000 gallons, for the same purpose.
The grape from Lutgen & DreseVs vineyards is said to yield a wine
resembling the Moselle of France, more than any other in the State;
Jackson Temple's vineyard, called the Tokay, produces a wine similar
to the famous Hungarian tokay.
Extending north from Marin county, nearly to Bussian river, is a
belt of rich country which produces fine crops of grain and grass, even
to the summit of the hills. This is the famous Bodega potato region,
and includes Twin Bock and Big valley, the northern part of which is
thickly timbered with redwood. Near the mouth of Bussian river is a ^
large saw mill, with a railroad connecting it with the forests on the
mountains^ two miles above. Valley Ford and Bodega Comers are
active villages containing a number of churches, school houses, and
stores, and having a poptdation, including that of the adjacent district,
of about two thousand. The products of this section of the county
are shipped to San Francisco, via Bodega bay. In the vicinity of Bo-
dega Comers, and about sixteen miles northwest of Petaluma, an exten-
sive business is carried on in the preparation of charcoal for the San
Francisco market, many thousand bushels being made here annually.
Hundreds of acres have been cleared by the charcoal burners of Sebas-
topol, as the nearest town is called, the pine in this region making a
peculiarly solid coaL
The "Geysers," a collection of hot springs, one of the greatest
curiosities in the State, being alike extraordinary for their varied
appearance, and the chemical composition of their waters, are situated
in this county. The locality of this si^^gular exhibition of subterranean
chemistry is in a deep gorge, in the northeastern part of the county,
about fifty miles from Petaluma, known as Pluton canon, and through
which flows Pluton creek, emptying into Bussian river. The spot is
wildly picturesque, being in the vicinity of some of the highest peaks
in the Coast Bange of mountains. The springs, which extend for
nearly a quarter of a mile, in the middle of the canon, cover about two
hundred acres. They are elevated about 1,700 feet above the level of
the sea, and are surrounded by mountains from three thousand to four
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172 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
thousand feet high. This canon has evidentlj once been the theatre c^
intense volcanic action, the rocks being burnt into a great variety of
colors.
There are over three hundred springs and jets of steam in this
canon, from an inch to several feet in diameter, the depositions from
which vary from snowy white to inty black in color. The water con-
tains iron, sulphur, and the various salts of lime, magnesia, ammonia,
soda, and potash, emitting the characteristic odor generated by hydro-
sulphuric acid. The registry at the hotel kept here is written with the
dark-colored contents of one of these springs. The rocks, over which
the waters from these springs flow, are coated with the compounds of
sulphur, lime, and magnesia. Epsom salts, alum, sulphur, and sid-
phates of iron can be collected here by the wagon load.
The two greatest attractions in the canon are the Witches' Cauldron
and the Steamboat Spring. The former consists of a cavity about seven
feet in diameter, and of unknown depth, filled with a black, viscid fluid,
which, boiling with intense energy at a temperature of 20(P Fahren-
heit^ bubbles and splashes, rising occasionally two or three feet above
the sides of the cauldron, though never running over it. The rocks for
several feet above this infernal fountain, over which its contents have
splashed, are covered with innumerable crystals and stalactites of pale
sulphur. The dark color of this mass is caused by the water of a spring
holding iron in solution, having, through contact with other water con-
taining sulphureted hydrogen, formed a new compound, whereby the
latter has be^n set free — and hence the foetid odor. When it is recol-
lected that to the presence of this gas, putrid eggs, bilge and sewer
water owe their peculiarly offensive smell, some idea can be formed of
the abominable odors escaping from this place.
In the year 1861 this cauldron, from some unknown cause, was
emptied of its contents and filled with steam. The proprietor of the
hotel at the place, fearing that it would thus be deprived of one of its
greatest attractions, caused a small stream of water to be led into the
caiddron, curious himself to see what woidd be the result The instant
the cool water came in contact with the lower portion of the cavity a
fearful commotion ensued. The ground, for several rods about, shook
with violence, and in a few minutes after, the inflowing water was ejected
with stunning reports, and thrown to the height of nearly one hundred
feet. In about three hours after the water was shut off the viscid fluid
reappeared, and has continued to boil and bubble ever since.
The Steamboat Spring, situated only a few yards from the Cauldron,
consists of an opening in the rocks at the bottom of the canon, about
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COUNTIES OP CAUFORNU. 173
two feet in diameter, through which is constantly ejected, with the
noise of a number of steamers, a body of steam sufficient, could it be
controlled, to propel a large amount of machinery. This steam is so
hot as to be invisible for five or six feet above the aperture through
which it issues. On a clear day it rises in a column to a height of more
than three hundred feet.
The earth, in the vicinity of the largest of these springs, is hot, and
full of sulphurous vapors, which constantly escape from the surface.
The ground, for some distance around, shakes and trembles, and the
visitor, by stamping his foot, causes a terrible noise to resound through
the cavernous spaces below. If he steps out of the beaten track, or
thrusts his cane through the thin crust that has hardened on the sur-
face, hot, sulphurous steam escapes from the aperture. The noise of
so many steam vents, each blowing off in a different key, and at irreg-
ular intervals, produces a most discordant din. Some of these sounds
are subdued and gentle, scarcely louder than the breathings of a horse
after a severe run; some resemble a low growl emitted at intervals of
about a minute, while others can scarcely be distinguished from the
puffings of a high j)ressure engine. With all these noises above the
surface of the earth and below, the loathsome smell of sulphur and
hydrogen, and the tremidous motion of the ground beneath one's feet,
a feeling of insecurity inevitably impresses itself upon the minds of
those who visit this place for the first time. Among the many singular
things to be seen in this strange canon, are hot and cold water issuing
from springs but a few feet apart, and in other places water issuing
from the same orifice, and apparently from the same source, but differ-
ing essentially in color, taste, smell, and chemical composition. The
water of Pluton creek, which, when it enters the canon, is at a low tem-
perature, becomes heated to about 14(P in its passage through it.
Stimulated by the unusual warmth of the place, vegetation is at all
times vigorous, even about the margin of the steaming pools. In the
waters of some of these springs, boiling at 200^, and in others where
the water is sufficiently acid to bum leather readily into tinder, algco
and conferv(B find a congenial element, and grow abundantly. Less than
forty paces from the focus of this heated region, trees, shrubs, grass
and flowers grow with luxuriance, both winter and summer.
About four miles further to the northeast, up Pluton canon, are the
Little Geysers, a series of large springs of intensely hot water, but
they do not contain any mineral substance, except a mere trace of iron.
They are situated on the side of a gently-sloping hill, at an altitude of
two thoxisand two hundred feet
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174 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
Earthquakes are of frequent ooourrence in this region. Persons
-who have resided there since April, 1847, the date of the discovery of
these springs, state that the ground about them has, within that
period, sunk about forty feet. The heated waters and acids appear to
dissolve the solid rocks, which thus gradually sink, as decomposition
progresses.
In 1863, a number of good specimens of auriferous quartz were
obtained from a ledge discovered on Mark West creek, about seven
nules from Santa Bosa^ in Bodega township, at which time a mining
district was organized. Though gold has been found here, it does not
exist in sufficient quantity to warrant the expenditure necessary for the
construction of the machinery required for its extraction. Gold has
also been found associated with cinnabar, a few miles east of the
Geysers. Silver ores have also been met with, and worked to some
extent in the range of hills west of Dry creek, nearly opposite Healds-
burg. The ores of copper are quite abundant in this couniy. In 1863
a number of districts were organized for working these mines. They
covered a tract of country twenty-four ^liles in length by five miles in
width, throughout which the work of prospecting was carried on exten-
sively for nearly two years, during which time the towns of Suala,
Monte Cristo and Copperton, were laid out and partially built up.
A considerable quantiiy of copper ore extracted from these mines was
shipped thence to San Francisco, but the cost of transportation and
the decline in the value of copper, put a check to operations here in
1865.
Quicksilver exists in considerable quantities, in the mountains in the
north-eastern part of the county, which are identical in geological
formation with those in Santa Clara county, wherein the New Almaden
mines are situated. The deposits of cinnabar in Sonoma county
appear to have been aflfected by the subterranean heat of the Geysers,
from which the more important are distant only a few hundred yards.
At this localiiy, the mercury is foimd in a metallic state. The cinna-
bar, about a mile to the east, has here been sublimated, and the metal
cooled in the cavities of the rock, from a single one of which as much
as six poimds of fluid mercury has sometimes been obtained. The
Pioneer mine in this vicinity, which was extensively prospected
between 1861 and 1864, produced during this period a large quantity
of metal, but is not being worked at present. Quite recently, a valu-
able quicksilver mine has been developed in Pope valley, Napa county,
being situated in a continuation of the same formation with the
Pioneer mine, of which a full description will be found in the topo-
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COUNTIES OF CAMPORNU. 175
graphy of Napa county. Several other claims were located in this
county. In the mountains extending to the eastward nearly ten miles,
small deposits of cinnabar have been found in a broad belt of rock,
nearly the whole distance.
Coal has been discovered at several places along the course of Eus-
sian river. The Sulphur Creek and Petaluma Coal Companies, organ-
ized to work these mines, obtained considerable quantities of good
coal from them, one lump of which exhibited at Petaluma, in 1867,
weighed two hundred pounds. The Cumberland Company's mine,
near Cloverdale, contained a vein in places nearly seven feet thick, and
from which about one hundred tons of coal were sold. Cloverdale is a
small place situated on Bussian river, in the northern part of the
county, about forty-eight miles from Petaluma.
Near the little town of Sebastopol occur extensive deposits of vari-
ously tinted ochres and other mineral colors of fine qualiiy. The
owner of these "paint mines," Mr. O. A. Olmstead, is about to erect
machinery for manufacturing paint from this material. Qood free-
stone and granite are extensively quarried near Santa Bosa ; there are
also exhaustless quarries of good building-stone near Petaluma. A
lai^e deposit of excellent potters' clay exists near Albany, on the divid-
ing ridge between Napa creek and Kussian river. Bricks of superior
quality are largely manufactured from a bed of good clay found in
Knight s vaUey. Limestone and gypsum are quite plentiful in the
mountains along the northern coast.
There are twelve grist-mills in the county, eight driven by steam
and four by water, the whole having a capacity to manufacture 1,000
barrels of flour per day. The population of Sonoma, which in the year
1860 numbered only 11,867, amounted to 26,960 in 1867, of whom
7,959 were children under fifteen years of age. The value of real and
personal property, assessed at 14,220,005 in 1863, had increased to
f7,000,O00inl867.
KAPA COUNTY.
Napa county is bounded on the north by Lake, on the south by
Solano, on the east by Yolo and Solano, and on jbhe west by Sonoma.
It is about fifteen miles in average width, by forty-five miles in length ;
contains about 450,000 acres, of which nearly one half is valley and
upland suitable for cultivation. Upwards of 200,000 acres were under
cultivation in 1867. The balance consists of mountains and deep
canons, which are well timbered towards the north. A branch of the
Mayacamas mountains forms the boundary between this and Sonoma
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176 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA.
Mayaoamas mountains forms the boondary between this and Sonoma
county on the west. Mount St. Helena^ 4^343 feet high, the culmi^
nating peak of this range — the highest point between San Francisco
and Clear Lake — ^is in the north-west comer of this county. This
mountain, forming a conspicuous object in the landscape for many
miles around, was named in honor of the Empress of Russia by the
Bussian naturalist, Wosnessensky, who ascended it in 1841. A copper
plate recording the ascent, and placed on the mountain at the time, is
now in the possession of the officers of the Geological Survey. From
this point, the range gradually decreases iii altitude till, approaching
the end of Napa valley on the south, it sinks into low, grassy, broken
hills. This valley, from which the couniy derives its name, is its chief
topographical feature. It lies nearly north and south, extending about
thirty-five miles from San Pablo bay, with an average width of about
four miles. The upper portion, for a distance of twelve miles from the
town of St Helena^ to the base of Mount St. Helena at its' head, is
only about one mile wide. At Tount's ranch, or Sebastopol, a town of
that name nearly in the middle of it, there are a few low hills two
miles apart. With this exception, the whole valley is a gentle slope
from its head to the tules along the bay. Napa creek, an insignificant
but the largest stream in the county, rises at the base of Mount St.
Helena, and flows through this valley near its eastern side, until it
unites with tide-water in an estuary near Napa city, from whence it is
navigable at high tide for vessels drawing six feet of water.
Knight's valley, situated north of the mountains at the head of
Napa valley, is seven miles in length by nearly two miles in width,
trending nearly east and west, forming a connecting link between Napa
and Kussian river valleys. This is a beautiful valley, very fertile and
picturesque, and surrounded by mountains thousands of feet high, tim-
bered to their summits. This is the timber region of the county, and
here are located the two saw-mills it contained in J.867. Pine moun-
tain, nearly 8,000 feet high, so named from the abundance of that
timber on its sides, is at the head of Knight's valley. Pope valley ex-
tends north-easterly from this point, into Lake county. It contains
numerous deposits of quicksilver, some of which are being developed
successfully.
Berreyesa valley, in the north-eastern portion of the couniy, is an
extensive agricultural region. Monticello, the principal town in it, is
twenty-four miles distant from Napa city. This fiine valley trends to
the south-east ; is fourteen miles in length, by an average of two miles
wide, covered with a very rich, deep soiL It is surrounded by moun-
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CX)UNTIES OF CAUFOBNU. 177
tains, and the Putah creek, flowing throogh it from one end to the
other, enters imd leares throogh narrow rooky gorges. Until 1866,
this valley was used almost exclusively for stock-raising purposes, in
consequence of there being no road connecting it with Napa. In that
year a road was cut» the value of which is illustrated by the fact that,
since then, nearly 15,000 acres of virgin soil have been broken, and
planted with wheat and barley. The crops of grain cut here in 1867,
were among the heaviest in the State — one tract, containing eight
thousand acres, subdivided into small farms, produced an aggregate of
one hundred and fifty thousand bushels of wheat, besides a large quan-
tity of barley. So productive and cheap was the land in this vicinity,
that, prior to the opening of the road mentioned, many of the farmers
who bought their places the previous year, were enabled to pay for
their land and improvements from the first crop. The wagon-road,
which so greatly facilitated the development of the Berreyesa valley,
also aided in opening up several others communicating with ii^ of
much smaller size, but equal in fertiliiy. Valleys of this description
are numerous in this and the adjoining counties, and are being rapidly
settled by farmers, in anticipation of the completion of the Napa valley
railroad, which is nearly finished to Calistoga, twenty-six miles north
of Napa city, and will probably be continued thence into the Bussian
river country.
On the road through Napa valley, towards Calistoga springs, an
attractive picture is presented of a California farming district — sub-
stantial private dwellings, well fenced fields, broad patches of vine-
yards imd fruit orchards, alternate with grain-fields, extending as far
as the eye can reach. On either side of this fine vaUey are mountains
covered with pine and fir, with here and there a clump of cedar ; the
lower ranges full of thickets of nut-hazel, buckeye, California bay,
ortodaphie Cali/omtca, the most odoriferous plant that grows on this
coast ; the California lilac, a species of ceanothus ; several varieties of
oak, the ash, and a dense undergrowth of grasses, clover, wild oats and
flowers, which afford food and covert for an immense number of quail,
hare, and rabbits. About 500,000 bushels of wheat were harvested in
this valley, in 1867. The average yield of all the land sown to this
grain, being thirty bushels to the acre, without the use of any fertilizer
or artiflcial irrigation. Fruits of all kinds, and the vine in all its varie-
ties are also very productive. The lower hills are covered for miles
with vineyards, and the area of this cultivation is rapidly extending.
To illustrate the perfection the foreign varieties of grape attain on
these hill-sides, Mr. H. M. Amsbury, in 1867, raised bunches of the
12
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178
THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIPOBlflA.
White Nice measuring thirty-two inches in circumference, and weighing
upwards of eight pounds each. In another vineyard, bunches of the
Flame Tokay were gathered, weighing five pounds each. The vines on
these hill-sides are never irrigated — they produce a wine essentially
different from that made from grapes grown on the low lands^ or where
watered.
The extent of the grape-culture in this countymay be inferred from
the following list of the leading vineyards. The mission grape is
almost exclusively cultivated for wine-making, but foreign varieties
are grown for table use.
VINETABDS JJX KAPA COUNTy.
Proprieton. No. of Vlnce.
Samnel Brannan 100,000
RKillrarn 12,000
P. KeUogg 15,000
E. KeUogg 15,000
CharlesKrog 41,000
D. Hudson 24,000
D. Fulton 10,000
J. York 35.000
Wm. Hndson 12,000
Mrs. Mills. 10,000
Dr. Crane 62,000
General Keys. 30,000
Dr. Bale 20,000
P. Pettet 15,000
F. Kellogg 20,000
Proprietors. No. of Vines.
Lewelling 30,000
M Vann 10,000
Mr. McCord. 20,000
C. CJown 20,000
Geo. C. Yount 10,000
Oak Knoll. 15,000
Henry Boggs. 20,000
Siegrist Brothers. 60,000
C. WestfaU 12,000
Hordman 20,000
J. T. Dewoody 20,000
Capt Pha Christensen 35,000
J. Van 20,000
Snscol 30,000
Making a total of 750,000 vines for the above twenty-nine vineyards.
There are also a great number of smaller ones, containing from 1,000
to 10,000 vines each, which, collectively, amount to 250,000, making
an aggregate of 1,000,000 for the entire county. Estimating that 1,000
vines are planted to the acre, there are 1,000 acres in vineyards.
There appears to be considerable difference in the quality of the
wine made from grapes grown in different localities. Those grown in
the vineyard of Dr. J. N. Wood, near the soda springs, where he has
about 5,000 vines of the grey Reisburg variety, are said to make a fine
hock wine. The peculiar flavor of this wine, which excels that made of
the same character in other portions of the State, is attributed more to
the soil than to the fruit. The great fertility of Napa valley, and the
facilities it enjoyiS for reaching a market by the railroad passing through
it connecting with steamers running daily to San Francisco, have
caused the land in the vicinity to more than double in value during the
past three years. It is difficult to obtain farms here for less than $25
per acre, and some are held as high as $100 or more. There are few
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COUNTIES OF CALIPORNU. 179
oatile or sheep raised in this vaUej, it being nearly all nnder cultiya-
tion. Its name is of Indian origin, being all that remains of a numer-
ous tribe of aborigines who once inhabited ib They were nearly
exterminated by the small-pox in 1838.
Napa ciiy, the couniy seat, was founded in 1848 by Nathan
Coombs, the pioneer settler in the valley. It is situated at the head of
navigation on Napa creek, steamers plying daily between the ciiy and
San Francisco. A railroad connects at Suscol landing, six miles south
of the town, for convenience of shipping at all stages of the tide. It is
a flourishing town, containing many flower-gardens, vineyards and
orchards, a number of substantial public buildings, including hotels,
churches, schools, etc. It is lighted with gas, and supplied with
abundance of good water, brought in pipes from the mountains. In
addition to the railroad to Calistoga, a number of good macadamized
roads, connecting with the interior of the couniy, have been made, or
are in progress. This enterprising spirit of its residents has materially
increased the business of the ciiy during the past two years, and nearly
doubled the value of its property. At the close of 1867, it contained
about 1,900 inhabitants, of whom 500 were children ; in 1864 its popu-
lation was less than 1,000. The construction of a railroad through the
upper portion of Napa vaUey, has created an active trade in firewood.
The Napa "Wood Company have purchased from the Federal Government
nearly 15,000 acres of mountain land, covered with black oak and other
trees, near Oakville, on the line of the road. In November, 1867,
there were 3,000 cords of wood piled up here for shipment to San
Francisco.
Calistoga springs, one of the most pleasant, convenient, and fashion-
able watering-places in California, are in this couniy, about tweniy-six
miles north of Napa ciiy, with which place they are connected by the
Napa valley railroad. They are situated in a romantic valley about
three miles long and one mile wide, surrounded on all sides by tow-
ering mountains, the rugged outlines and steep declivities of which
impart to the scene a wild grandeur. On the north, less than three
miles distant. Mount St: Helena looms in gigantic proportions, black
and grim, while all around are peaks but little inferior to it in altitude,
and so steep that their sides appear almost perpendicular. Some of
these mountains aje covered with timber to their very summits, others
remaining bare and bleak as when first created. The telescopic out-
line of these distant hills, on a warm summer's day, is among the mar-
vels of the atmospherical phenomena of California. No English park
is more beautiful than the plain that stretches between the town and
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180 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA.
Mount Sb Helena coyered with oak and sycamore forest-treesy
arranged by Nature with such exquisite symmetiy as art could never
accomplish. A rivulet, formed by the water from innumerable springs
on the hill-sides, flows through the valley. This water, owing to its
chemical composition, is of pale blue tint, giving a singular charm to
the region tiirough which it flows. The soil around these hot springs,
extending over nearly a mile of the valley, is as springy under foot as
the quaking bogs in some of the Atlantic States^ and is covered with a
tough, wiry grass, which cattle and horses are exceedingly fond of.
The springs nearest the hotel have been enclosed in capacious wooden
tanks, set in the ground, the water bubbling up within them, clear and
sparkling. Over several of these tanks, houses have been erected sup-
plied with conveniences for bathing, with the water at any desired tem-
perature.
The springs at Calistoga are supposed to be connected with the
Geysers in Sonoma county, from which they are twenty-five miles dis-
tant. They difler in temperature from 76^ to 200^ Fah., and contain
iron, sulphur and the various salts of lime, magnesia and soda. Several
deep holes have been bored among these springs, with a view to obtain-
ing pure water. At a depth of sixty-two f eet, the water in one of these
holes was so intensely hot as to break the bulb of the thermometer
used to test ib The materials met with by the borer, prove this valley
to be much older than the Oeysers. The auger passed through six-
teen feet of rich loam, resting on six feet of gravel, under which is a
stratum of tufacious matter ten feet thick, and a bed of clay and gravel
29 feet thick ; below this, was a stratum of rock too hard for the auger.
The temperature of the water, six feet beneath the surface, was found
to be 1360; at 22 feet, 196^; at 32 feet, 21(P; below which point it was
too hot to be tested with the instrument In other holes, bored to a
depth of 70 feet, the temperature increased about 3^ for every ten feet
sunk, the water being sufficiently hot at the lowest depth attained to
boil eggs in a few minutes.
The greater portion of the Talley in which these springs are located
is the property of Samuel Brannan, Esq., one of the most enterprising
residents of San Francisco, who has expended upwards of 1100,000
in aiding Nature to further adorn this beautiful place. Ornamental
trees, flowers and shrubs from almost every clime, have been gathered,
100,000 grape vines planted, mazy walks, cosy bowers, and labyrinth-
ine groves laid out, without the appearance of having been planted
artificially. In a spot so sheltered, with a soil so rich — always-moist
and warm — all the plants of the warmer latitudes grow with extraordi-
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COUNTIES OF CAMPOBNIA. 181
nary luxuriance. The whole yallej forms a sort of open-air conserv-
atory, while, on the hills and knolls around it, the air is delightfully
cool and balmy. The hotel and bathing accommodations are extensive
and elegantly fitted up, including capacious tepid swimming-baths^ for
both sexes. The valley is not, however, wholly devoted to the use of
the votaries of pleasure. A large tract of land has been planted with
mulberry trees, to feed silk-worms ; another tract has been planted
with willow, for the manufacture of baskets. In the mountains, among
the timber, is a steam saw-mill, where thousands of feet of excellent
lumber is cut; and, on the lower hills, are vineyards and fruit orchards
in a high state of cultivation. The career of the proprietor of one of
the Calistoga vineyards, affords such an excellent illustration of what a
^'poor man," with no other capital than intelligence and industry, may
accomplish in CaHfomia^ that we give some particulars about Schram,
and his vineyard, as an example worthy of imitation. Schram is a
German by birth, and a barber by profession. When he arrived in the
State, less than seven years ago, he had neither money nor friends^ imd
could scarcely speak our language ; but he had tact and courage. Be-
lieving that the hill-sides around this valley would produce a superior
quality of grapes, he procured a tract of the land for a trifle — ^being
covered with timber and underbrush, it was not considered to be worth
anything. By dint of hard labor, he cleared a few acres 'and planted
them with vines, acting as barber at the springs on Saturdays and Sun-
days, in order to obtain money to pay his current expenses. He now
has, at the end of five years, 15,000 vines growing, about one half of
which bear fruit, from which he has made sufficient wine to pay for
considerable improvements.
The White Sulphur springs are another fashionable resori These
are about six miles south of Calistoga, in the same range of mountains.
They are in a deep gorge, so narrow that a strong man might throw a
stone from one of the mountains that enclose it, to the other. A little
babbling stream of clear, cold water ripples through the gorge over a
pebbly bed, shaded by the foliage of broad oaks and drooping willows^
forming quite a different scene to that about Calistoga. The waters
are also different, issuing in a clear stream from the mountain side, at
a temperature of about 80^. There are excellent hotel and bathing
arrangements at these springs, but they are less frequented than
Calistoga.
The Napa Soda Springs are situated about five miles north from
Napa City, on the east side of the valley, in a branch of the same range
of mountains as the other mineral springs in this and the adjoining
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182 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBKIA.
counties, but neatly twenty miles south of any of those described.
They are elevated nearly one thousand feet above the level of the valley,
on the slope of the mountain. The number of springs must be very
great, as they issue from the surface over an area of about thirty-five
acres. Some of them discharge but little water — others are sufficiently
large to keep an inch pipe constantly filled. Some merely ooze from
the slate formation composing the mountain — others have formed basins
around them by the sedimentary matter they deposit.
The liquid from the larger spring is a fine quality of natural soda
water, highly charged with carbonic acid gas, and has become a popu-
lar beverage throughout California. Napa soda, obtained from these
springs, is bottled and sold at the rate of five thousand dozen per month
during the summer season. Small gasometers are placed over each of
the larger springs, which collect the gas as it escapes with the water,
after which it is conducted by means of pipes into the main gasometer,
and then forced into the bottles under a pressure of forty-five to sixty
pounds.
These valuable springs were discovered in 1853, but the water was
not considered of commercial value until 1866. Since that time the
demand for it has steadily increased. It is intended to erect a spacious
hotel in the viciniiy, so that those who desire to do so may imbibe the
soda from the fountain head.
The waters of these springs have been frequently analyzed. From
experiments made by Dr. Lanzweert, a practical chemist, a quart of it
being evapoiated, was found to contain 17.19 grains of solid matter,
compounded of the following substances :
OnlBi.
Bicarbonate of soda 3.28
Carbonate of magnesia 6.53
Carbonate of lime. 2.72
Chloride of Bodimn. 1.30
Snb-carbouate of iron 1.96
Sulphate of soda. 0.46
Silidoos acid 0.17
AlnmJT^i^ 0. 16
Loss 0.62
Total 17.09
Oak Knoll, originally the property of J. W. Osbom, one of the
most enlightened and enterprising among the pioneer farmers of Cal-
ifornia, and who spent large sums of money in cultivating and improv-
ing it, is now owned by R. B. Woodward. This farm, containing about
eighteen hundred acres of fertile land, occupies the greater portion of
a gently-rounded knoll,. situated nearly in the center of Napa valley,
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBNIA. 183
about five miles from the city. Ancient white oaks of large size still
fionrish about it in all their pristine beauty, imparting to the spot a
peculiarly venerable aspect Broad fields of grain, luxuriant vineyards,
and well-trained orchards tell that the useful has not been sacrificed to
the ornamental or beautiful — all being blended with admirable taste
and judgment.
On the boundary between this and Lake county, connecting with
Mount Si Helena, is an irregular pile of steep and rugged mountains,
extending as far as the head of Napa valley, in which large deposits of
quicksilver have been found, some of which have been in process of
exploration since their discovery in 1869. The indications of this metal
have been traced for nearly fifteen miles from Sonoma^ through Lake,
into this county. About two miles south of Mount Sb Helena, in a
deep canon, running nearly east and west, is a steep bank, on the south
nearly eighteen hundred feet high, and about a mile in length, the most
of which contains cinnabar, its slopes being covered with fragments
that have fallen from the croppings above. Portions of this ore can
be panned out from almost any of the surface dirt in this canon, and
small grains can be gathered from the serpentine and sandstone of which
the bank is composed. There are two well defined ledges in this bank,
about two hundred yards apart, the lower about eight hundred feet
above the bottom of the canon, trending northwest and southeast, which
are richer in the ore than other portions. Another canon, trending to
the south, crosses that in which this bank is situated, and extends into
James* canon, trending northeast about two miles. Here the cinnabar
crops out along the sides and over the summit of the mountain which
divides this canon from Pope valley. From its top, descending east-
ward into the latter for about two miles, the ores are richer and more
abundant than in any other portion. The owners of the lead in this
vicinity have expended large sums in prospecting their claim. In 1863
furnaces were erected and about twenty thousand pounds of mercury
obtained, but the disconnected nature of the deposits, defective appar-
atus, and high price of labor and materials compelled the parties to
cease operations.
During 1867 new imd important discoveries of cinnabar were made
in this vicinity, and several hundred tons of ore extracted,, which
yielded at the rate of from eight to thirty per cent of metal. At the
close of that year a considerable force of men were employed opening
a number of claims here. A furnace capable of reducing eight tons of
ore per day was put up, numerous buildings were erected, a dam and
flume were built^ and every preparation made for extensive operations.
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184 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
Pope yalle J lies about forty miles north of Napa city. About ten miles
north from this place, between Berreyesa valley and Clear Lake is an-
other locality abounding in cinnabar, though the ore differs from that
in Pope yalley, it being of a leaden-gray color, while the other is a red
ore. Traces of gold are found in the ores at both places. The native
Califomians were aware of the existence of these deposits before their
discovery by Americans — ^these people designating them as "la veta
madre," or, the mother vein.
The p9pulation of Napa couniy in the fall of 1867 numbered about
8,000, chiefly Americans imd Europeans, or about one inhabitant to
each fifty-nine acres. In 1860 it contained 6,500.
LAKE COUNTY.
Lake county is bounded on the north by Colusa and Mendocino;
on the south by Napa and Sonoma^ on the east by Colusa and Yolo,
and on the west by Mendocino and Sonoma. It is about sixty miles
in lengtii by fifteen miles in average width. The whole of it is em-
braced within two branches of the main coast mountains^ running
nearly north imd south, which divide on the south of Mount Si Helena^
the western branch being known locally as the Mayacamas, (the name
of a once numerous tribe of Indians that inhabited them,) and the east-
em as Bear mountains, from the number of grizzlies living there.
Mount Bipley, the highest peak of this division, near the upper end of
Clear Lake, is upwards of three diousand feet high. These divisions re-
unite near the northern limit of the county, where Mount Si John, the
connecting ridge, attains a height of nearly four thousand f eei Between
these ranges lies a valley about forty miles in length by nearly fifteen
miles wide, the sides of which are formed by narrow ridges of broken
mountains, separated by deep gorges and narrow canons, covered with
timber underbrush, wild oats and grapes, in which all kinds of game
abound. A grizzly bear was killed in these mountains in 1865, weigh-
ing nearly two thousand pormds. In this valley is Clear Lake, cover-
ing more than one third of its surface. This beautiful lake is nearly
one thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea^ is sixty-five
miles from Suisun bay and thirty-six miles from the Pacific ocean.
It has a length of about tweniy-five miles, and for the first ten miles
from its northern end averages ten miles in width, after which it is con-
tracted to a width of about two miles — the base of a mountain called
Uncle Sam projecting into it at this pofnt, and dividing it into the upper
and lower lake. This mountain rises almost perpendicularly from the
water to im altitude of two thousand five hundred feet, and to the south-*
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COUNTIES OF GALIFOBNLL 185
east, a distance of eight miles, the lake contracts into Cache creek, its
only outlet, a deep, wide stream^ which flows eastward through Yolo
conntj for sixty miles and unites with the Sacramento, near Knight's
landing. The Cache creek yallej, a very fertile district, extends through
this county into Yola Hawkins' arm of the lower lake, as the narrow
portion is termed, is about two miles wide, imd extends east among the
mountains a distance of six miles. North of Uncle Sam mountain, the
main lake is, in places^ more than nine miles wide, but owing to the
peculiarly clear atmosphere which usually preyails, the distance appears
much less. Its waters are clear as crystal, cool and deep, and the upper
lake, from one end to the other, full of fish, and unbroken by a single
island. The narrow portion contains several beautiful little islands,
inhabited by Indians^ who call the lake Lup Yomi These Indians
are a poor, harmless, and apparently happy set of beings, who live on
roots, fish, and game — ^which latter they exibit great dexteriiy in catch-*
ing — ^the fish with nei^ and the wild fowl with slings, in which they use
small pellets of hard baked clay. They can hit a duck with these pel-
lets as unerringly as white men can with a shot gun. The canoes used
by these people, made of tules dried and bound together, are precisely
similar to those described by Cabrillo and Father Palou, and alluded to
in the historical portion of this worL Pike, trout^ and blackfish are
abundant in the lake^ and ducks, geese, and other wild fowls may be
found in the tules which fringe its shores.
North-west of Uncle Sam mountain, is a belt of fine bottom-land,
known as Big yalley, which, rising gradually from the border of the
lake^ extends to the head of the main valley, and is nearly two miles
wide, thickly sprinkled with oak and willow, and traversed by numer«
ous small streams, which empty into the lake. On this plain is located
Lakeport, the county seat, about one hundred miles north from San
Francisco — a quiet, prosperous little town. There is twenty feet of
water close to the shore at this place ; and a small sailing vessel plies '
between it and the lower lake. It is contemplated to construct a small
steamer, to facilitate freight and travel between these two points.
There are two grist-mills and three saw-mills in this valley, which are
kept bui^ supplying the district with flour and lumber. The moun-
tains furnish abundance of redwood, pine and fir.
The eastern shore of the lake is quite mountainous ; but, towards
the north, the range is much broken, and several creeks flow through
canons into the lake. Along the banks of these creeks, and at other
places near the shore^ are considerable patches of rich grazing land,
affording nutritious pasturage for a large number of cows. Some ot
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186 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
the cheese made here is reputed to be equal to the best English Stil-
ton, or Cheshire. There are six large dairies in this valley, having
sixty to one hundred and fifty cows each. The annual product of the
county, for the past four years, has been about 200,000 pounds of
cheese, each cow giving enough milk to make about 300 pounds during
the year.
There are good roads from Lakeport connecting with Suisun, Men-
docino, and Napa counties. It is proposed to extend a branch of the
Napa vaUey railroad, to the head of Lake valley. A road has also been
surveyed to connect with the Geysers, only ten miles distant
There are numerous small branch-valleys among the surrounding
mountains, some of which have been brought under cultivation within
the past year or two. Sigler valley, a few miles west of the head of
Lake valley, is one of the finest of these little places. It is about five
miles in circumference, surrounded by mountains of the most pictur-
esque form. One of these mountains, from which the valley receives
its name, contains a large number of springs, varying in temperature
from icy coldness to a boiling heat, of different colors and flavor,
including one of cold soda-water. A hotel has been erected in this
valley, for the accommodation of visitors.
This county was organized in 1861 ; until then it formed the north-
em portion of Napa coxmty. Its first white settlers were Lease, Kel-
sey, and Stone, who had a cattle-ranch in Lake valley, in 1844 The
two latter were killed by Indians in 1861. The present population of
the couniy is about 4,000, including 1,200 children. There are several
small villages located along the shores of the lake and among the val-
leys. The land under cultivation in 1867, exceeded 7,000 acres, from
which good crops of wheat, barley and vegetables were raised, but
little attention being paid to fruit. Experiments made recently
demonstrate that a good qualiiy of cotton can be grown in the shel-
tered valleys. Qood land in this county is held at tweniy to fifiy dol-
lars per acre.
One of the more considerable sources of wealth in this county con-
sists of its borax and sulphur deposits, both of which abound in great
profusion and puriiy in the viciniiy of Clear Lake. Borax lake, or
Lake Kaysa as it is called by the Indians, a pond covering from two to
four hundred acres, according to the season of the year, is situated a
short distance east of Clear lake, about half-way between Cache creek
and Hawkins' arm, in a valley formed by two steep ridges at the head
of Cache creek. Borax lake is situated on a sort of peninsula extend-
ing into Clear lake, being separated from the latter by a cretaceous
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBNIA. 187
ridge varying from half a mile to one mile in width. In the fall of
the year, when filled up by the rains, this pond is about six thousand
feet long and two thousand wide. It is of an irregular, oval shape, its
longitudinal axis lying east imd west; and in ordinary seasons varies in
depth from five feet in the month of April, to two feet at the end of
October. The appearance of the land to the eastward, indicates that
this lake at one time extended a mile in that direction beyond its
present limit, weUs sunk in this land filling with water similar to that
in the lake, which has no visible inlet or outlet. The waters of this
pond contain a considerable per cent of borax, carbonate of soda
and chloride of sodium in solution; yet it is not from this water
that the supply of borax is obtained. Beneath, lies a bed of black
jeUy*like mud, three feet in depth, which feels like -soap between the
fingers. This mud contains enormous quantities of the crystals of
biborate of soda. Underlying it is a bed of tough bluish clay, from
five to twelve feet in thickness, imd which also contains numerous layers
of these crystals, mostly of a larger size. The latter are semi-trans-
parent and of a grayish or brownish tint, being contaminated more or
less with earthy matters. These crystals are collected and dissolved in
boiling water, when the impurities fall to the bottom of the vessels, and
they re-form in a state of nearly absolute purity and of almost snowy
whiteness.
From experiments made by the California Borax Company, who
own this lake, it has been ascertained that the water^ mud and clay, to
a depth of sixty feet — as far down as they have tested them — are
heavily charged with this valuable salt, as well as a large percentage of
carbonate of soda^ and chloride of sodium. Professor Oxland, who for
some time had charge of the company's works, found the black mud to
contain, by analysis, 17.73 per ceni of borax. Another sample ana-
lyzed by Mr. Moore, a chemist of San Francisco, yielded 18.86 percent,
of this salt The clay, at the depth of eight feet has been found to
contain 15, and that taken from a depth of sixty feet, 3.61 per cent, of
borax. The prepared borax produced by this company is made from
the crystals alone, these being ample to supply all the crude material
required for present operations, the quantiiy purified amounting to
between twenty-five hundred and three thousand pounds daily.
Until 1866 the only apparatus employed to obtain the borax con-
sisted of four iron coffer dams, six feet square and nine feet deep, which,
having been floated to the spot where required, on a rafi^ were sunk
through the mud by their own weight into the mud beneath, after which
they were pumped out and the mud was removed and placed in cisterns
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188 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
to be treated as already described. Latterly a dredging machine has
been employed, which not only expedites operations, but curtails
expenses.
This lake was discovered by Dr. John A. Veatch, in September,
1869. About two miles to the north of it, on the edge of Clear Lake,
is a group of boiling springs, scattered over an area of about eight acres,
the water of which is highly charged with boracic acid, soda and chlor-
ine. From a gallon of this water Dr. Veatch obtained, by analysis, four
hundred and forty-eight grains of solid matter, consisting of borax,
carbonate of soda^ chloride of sodium, and silicious matter. One of
these springs discharges nearly one hundred gallons of water per min-
ute, the quantity issuing from the entire number being about three
hundred gaUons per minute, but which is here suffered to nm to- waste,
because of the abundance of more available material at hand. The
water of these springs contain the following elements:
Bicarbonate of soda 76.96
Bicarbonate of ammonia. 107.76
Biborate of soda 10a29
Free carbonic add. 36.37
Chloride of soditim 84.62
Iodide of magnesium 09
Alumina 1.26
Silicic acid 8.23
patters volatile at red heat 65.77
And traces of sulphate of lime, chloride of potassium, and bromide of magnesium.
These substances being calculated as anhydrous salts and borax,
containing forty-seven per cent, of water when crystalized, causes
103.29 grains in the above analysis to be equal to 195.35 of commercial
borax. There are probably no springs in the world which contain so
large a per cent, of ammoniacal salts as these.
There is another borax-lake situated in a little valley a few miles
northeast of Clear lake, surrounded with thick forests of oak and pine.
The bottom of this lake, which covers an area of about twenty acres
with a clay similar to that found in the larger lake ; and, although its
waters are more highly charged with boracic acid, the crystals of the
borate of soda have not as yet been found in its bottom. Besides the
springs already mentioned, there are several others of less magnitude ixx
this county, impregnated with the salt of borax.
On the shore of Clear lake, near the hot borate springs before
noticed, is an immense deposit of sulphur, from beneath which these
springs appear to flow. This bank, which covers an area of about
40,000 square yards, is composed of sulphur that appears to have been
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COUNTIES OF GALIFOBNLL 189
concreted into a solid mass — splintered and fissured in inniunerable
places^ from the vapors constantly arising from these springs. Anj
object placed in the latter is speedily covered with crystals of this
substance. Considerable quantities of sulphur from this place have
been refined and used by chemical works^ and in 'gunpowder, match
and other factories.
In purifying this article, it was found to be impregnated with mer-
cury to a degree that imparted to it quite a dark color ; a defect^ how-
ever, that was readily obviated. On being worked, it is found to yield
seventy to eighty per cent of pure brilliant sulphur. The company
refine from six to ten tons of sulphur per day. The demand for this
article, for home consumption, amounts to about twelve hundred tons
annually in this State, of which five hundred tons are required by
the chemical works^ six hundred by the powder-mills^ and one hundred
for making matches, etc. ; the most of that obtained in California being
from deposits in Colusa county. Its market value is $50 per ton in
San Francisco ; but so abundant is this article in the moimtains ex-
tending north from this bank in Lake county, to Tuscan springs in
Tehama county, that the supply must always be out of all proportion
to the demand, there being a sufficiency here to meet the requirements
of the world for centuries to come. There are a number of small beds
of salt in this county, but their contents^ although quite pure, are only
used to supply local wants. Gk>ld and silver-bearing lodes have been
found in Luckanome valley, and also near Bed river in this county,
from some of which very satisfactory assays have been discovered.
Silver ore, assaying as high as $50 to the ton, has been discovered in
Sigler valley, and also at a point near Lakeport, while copper and cin-
nabar occur at various localities, the most promising deposits of these
metals having been found near Enoxville, at the head of Berreyesa
valley.
Petroleum is collected, in small quantities, from the surface of many
of the small lakes and pools among the mountains, though little or
nothing has been done towards tracing this substance to its source.
Marble, pumice stone, and sulphate of lime, occur abundantly at
many localities in the county.
MENDOCINO COUNTt.
This county derives its name from Cape Mendocino, the most west-
em headland in the State, formerly included in this county, but now a
portion of the adjoining county of Humboldt.
Mendocino is bounded on the north by Humboldt, on the east by
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190 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNU.
Colusa and Lake, on the sonth by Sonoma^ and on the west by the
Pacific ocean. Its lengthy extending north and south, is about eighty
miles, its average width about forty miles. It covers an area of up-
wards of 2,000,000 acres, of which 900,000 are fit for cultivation, and
200,000 are good grazing lands, the balance being composed of rugged
hills and lofty mountains. At the close of 1867, there were 100,000
acres enclosed, of which 60,000 were under cidtivation.
The main topographical features of this couniy consist of two paral-
lel ranges of the coast mountains, extending in a direction nearly north
and south through its entire length. Between these ranges are a
nearly continuous chain of valleys, through which flow the Eel and
Bussian rivers, the two largest streams in this section of the county,
both having their sources in the Mayacamas mountains, in the vicinity
of Potter's valley, on the eastern border, and nearly in the center of
this county. Eel river, flowing northward through this and Humboldt
county, empties into the Pacific ocean near CenterviUe, a short dis-
tance from Humboldt bay. In December, 1867, a bill was introduced
in the State Legislature, requesting the Federal Government to direct
the officers of the Coast survey to make a thorough examination of the
mouth of this river, with a view to ascertaining what measures, if any,
shoidd be adopted to improve its navigation. A small schooner made
several trips a short distance up this river in 1866, showing that it is
navigable, to some extent at least. Bussian river, flowing southward
through this and Sonoma counties, empties into the Pacific ocean near
Fort Boss. There are a great number of tributaries to both of these
rivers, which, having their sources in the surrounding mountains, and
flowing through the main and lateral valleys, cause Mendocino to be
one of the best-watered counties in the State, and furnish it with
almost unlimited power for the propulsion of machinery.
In the range bordering the coast, there are upwards of twenty
streams, many of them of considerable volume, though but few miles
in length, which flow westward into the Pacific ocean. Many of these
are employed by lumbermen for running saw-mills, floating logs from
the mountains, and for shipping the lumber and other produce from
the adjoining valleys. The mouths of nearly all of these streams form
estuaries, afibrding safe harbors for coasting vessels.
From Shelter Cove on the north to Havens' anchorage on the south,
a distance of more than one hundred miles, the outer .Coast Bange is
covered with an almost unbroken and nearly impenetrable forest of red-
wood and pine, extending inland from fifteen to thirty-five miles. In
this region are located seven large saw mills, which cut and shipped
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COUNTIES OF CALIFORNIA. 191
daring the year 1867, forty-six million feet of lumber, and nine
small mills, which tamed oat over two million feet, chiefly for local
consomption. A large qaantiiy of posts, rails, railroad ties, pickets,
shingles and other split lamber, are also shipped from the different
landings. The lamber trade of this region is the chief resource of the
county, giving employment to nearly one half of its popidation and to
about forty schooners of from one hundred to two hundred tons bur-
den. The following particulars concerning the largest of these mills
will convey an idea of the proportions and manner of conducting the
lumber business in this couniy: The Albion mill, at the mouth of
Albion river, the property of Messrs. McPherson and Wetherbee, is
run by steam and cost $30, 000. During 1867 its owners cut and shipped
to San Francisco six million feet of sawed lumber. This firm also owns
the Noyo steam mill, at the mouth of Noyo river, about twenty miles
further north than the Albion, which cost $35,000, and from which
they shipped in 1867 seven million feci It was at this mill that
the extraordinarily large redwood plank, now on exhibition at the
Department of Agriculture^ Washington, was cut — one of the largest
planks ever cut by a mill in any part of the world, measuring seven
feet five inches in width, by twelve feet in length, and four inches
in thickness. These are good specimens of much of the lumber made
in this district, being free from knots or blemishes of any kind, and
cut as smooth and even as slabs of marble. There are thousands of
redwood trees in the forests here measuring from fourteen to eighteen
feet in diameter at six feet above ground, and without a knot or limb
for one hundred feet from their roots up.
The Walhalla steam mill, on Walhalla river, owned by Messrs. Hay-
wood & Harmon, costing $30,000, cut and sent to market 4,000,000 feet
of lumber in 1867; Stickney & Coomb's steam mill, on Little river, cost-
ing $20,000, cut and shipped over 5,000,000 feet; Tichenor & Bixbey's
steam mill, at the mouth of Novarro river, costing $30,000, cut and
shipped 6,000,000 feet; and J. G. Jackson's steam mill, on Caspar creek,
costing $30, 000, cut and shipped 6, 000,000 feet in 1867. The Mendocino
Mill Company, at Mendocino City, has a steam mill which cost $60,000,
and cut 12,000,000 feet of lumber in 1867. The other mills in this
county are of small capacity, and mainly run by water power. Each of
the principal mills is located near the mouth of a creek or river, near
tide water, convenient for loading vessels — such creeks or estuaries
occurring at irregular intervals of ten or fifteen miles along the whole
coast of the county, and affording unusual facilities for conducting an
extensive lumber trade.
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192 THE HATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
It is an astonislimg sight to those not acquainted with the business
to see the immense saws pass through these mammoth logs. Many of *
the latter are from ten to fifteen feet in diameter, from twelve to sixteen
feet in length, and are handled by the machinery used with great celer-
ity and facility. In a few minutes they are ripped into hundreds of
boards and scantling — ^ready for shipment It requires the services of
several men to remove the lumber as fast as a gang of two saws run-
ning on these enormous logs will cut it. The large mills here make
about eleven working months in the year, one month in every twelve
being required for repairing and keeping the mill in order. When
driven with work they sometimes run night and day, but never on Sun-
days. The logs are cut in the summer, and after lying till they diy and
become light and more easy to handle, are hauled to the banks of the
streams — ^many of them at this season dwindled to rivulets — and rolled
into their channels, where they remain until the streams become swollen
by the winter rains, when they are floated down to the mills^ a little
above which booms are rigged for catching them.
This timber land is all a part of the public domain, and so exten-
sive are these forests that the millmen rarely ever go to the trouble of
reducing any portion of it to possession, each man cutting in the vicinity
of his mill without molestation or question. So abundant is the supply
that it is not likely to suffer serious diminution during the present gen-
eration. This lumber, delivered in San Francisco, sells at about twenty
dollars per thousand feet for rough, and thirty dollars for dressed. At
the lowest figure named, the value of the lumber made in Mendocino
county, and shipped thence during the year 1867, amounted to the
sum of $9,600,000.
Lying east of the timbered mountains is a tract of open country
known as the Bald Hills, they being nearly destitute of trees, though
covered with wild oats, clover and other grasses affording an abund-
ant pasturage. In the main Coast Bange of mountains, which traverses
the entire western part of the county, there are a number of bold peaks,
some of them nearly six thousand feet high, but few of them having as
yet received a name. Near their summits these peaks are bare and
rugged, or covered only with chaparral, though oaks and various other
trees grow about their base. The country everywhere abounds with
grizzly bears, deer, elk, and other game, very little of it yet being
settled, or in fact fully explored. The entire region, reaching from the
Hay Fork of Trinity river to the head of Bussian river, a distance of
nearly one hundred and thirty miles, remains an almost uninhabited
wilderness, though its agricultural and grazing resources are known to
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBNU. 193
be immense. The reason so little settlement has been made in this
extensive and inviting tract is, there are no roads by which it can be
approached from other parts of the State — the hostile character of the
Indians, who, until a few years since, possessed it, having also tended
to keep out immigration. Lying between the main ranges of moun-
tains are several extensive and fertile valleys, within the limits of this
county. In these valleys most of the farming popidation resides, and
here three-fourths of all the grain, fruits and vegetables produced in
the county are raised.
Commencing with Ukiah, a part of the main Eussian river valley,
and which extends south fifteen miles into Sonoma county, we have
adjoining it, on the north, Coyote valley, three miles long by one and
a half wide, connecting with Potter's valley, six miles long and two
wide. Tweniy miles north of Ukiah is Little Lake ^valley, beyond
which to the north is Sherwood's valley, and nine miles further on.
Long valley — all containing a considerable quantity of good land, and
offering tempting inducements to settlemeni Kound valley, sixty
miles from Ukiah, lies in the northern part of Mendocino, extending
into Humboldt county. Around these larger are nimibers of lateral
and subordinate valleys, the most noteworthy of which are Anderson's,
Bedwood, Sarral, and Eden Spring, each containing a fair share of
good land. As Little Lake valley fairly represents the entire group,
we select it for a somewhat more detailed description. This pleasant
spot, deriving its name from a small, deep lake of pure water, reposing
among the rocks at its southern end, is six miles long and three wide.
It is sheltered on every hand by a grand amphitheatre of heavily
wooded mountains, from which a number of streams of clear water
descend into the valley. The base of these mountains is covered with
grass, and there are several thousand acres of good land in the valley,
which, though not discovered until 1863, contained, four years after,
about fifiy families, who managed to maintain themselves in comfort-
able independence, cidtivating about 8,000 acres of its fertile soil.
When first discovered, this valley was inhabited by three tribes of In-
dians, who subsisted upon the fish, game, wild fruits, and seeds found
in and around it
The climate of these valleys is more humid, and owing to their
greater elevation, somewhat colder than that of the valleys further
south and east. The ocean-fogs, passing over the lofty timbered
ranges to the west, cause frequent showers during the summer, which
tend to keep vegetation green and prevent the larger streams from dry-
ing up, as they are apt to do further south, while the snow-capped
13
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194 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIPOBNIA.
peaks in the Coast Bange to the east, absorbing the heated air from tiie
plains, renders the summer climate of this region much cooler than in
the great interior and southern valleys.
Com, hemp, and tobacco, grow vigorously, and never fail to ma-
ture in these valleys, while all the more hardy plants and fruits flourish
with little other culture than the mere act of planting. The peachy
however, does not thrive so well here as in warmer localities, and the
grape requires to be planted on the simny side of the hills in order to
reach perfection. Most of the soil in these valleys, formed chiefly from
the disintegration of the volcanic rocks of which the country around is
largely composed, consists of a black, sandy loam, very favorable to
the growth of the cereals, as well as most kinds of fruits. The greatest
fruit-growing localities' are Anderson and XJkiah valleys, in the south-
em portion of the county. Mendocino having been so recentiy settled,
few of the orchards have yet attained to any great size. There were
raised in this county, during the year 1867, 20,000 bushels of wheat,
65,000 of barley, and 260,000 of oats. It contains seven grist-mills, at
which there were manufactured 14,000 barrels of flour — a sufficiency
for home consumption, considerable quantities of potatoes, butter,
cheese, eggs, lard, ham and bacon, are also produced in this county,
the soil and climate being peculiarly well adapted for the culture of the
potato, while the abundant pasturage caused the cows to yield much
milk, and the mast afforded by the wide range of oak-forests supply a
cheap and nourishing feed for the hogs, imparting to their flesh an«
excellent flavor. The produce from the southern part of the county, is
sent to San Francisco and Sacramento, by way of Sonoma ; that from
the more northern districts being shipped by sea. A good road was
completed in the fall of 1867, between XJkiah and Lakeport, a distance
of twenty-four miles, which, by* establishing wagon communication be-
tween this valley and the routes leading to San Francisco, has greatly
promoted the interests and convenience of the inhabitants, the develop-
ment of the agricultural resources of this section of the county having
been retarded through a want of wagon-roads.
Though its boundaries were prescribed as early as 1850, Mendo-
cino, owing to the sparseness of its population, was not organized as a
county until 1859, it having in the interim been attached to Sonoma
for legal and judicial purposes. Besides its isolated position, pro-
tracted and harassing wars with the Indians, who, after committing
depredations on the whites fled to the mountains and wilderness be-
yond the reach of their pursuers, have operated to delay the settiement
of this county. The Federal Government has at length succeeded in
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OOUKTIES OF QAIIFOBKIA. 195
collecting the remaining TndianB on two large reservations — ^the one at
Bound valley, in the north-eastern part of the conntj, and the other on
Noyo river, on the coast near the middle of the couniy. These reserv**
ations contain upward of 100,000 acres of good land, on which the
Indians, under white supervision, raise enough grain and vegetables
for their own support These hostile tribes are now so thoroughly
subjugated, not only in this but throughout the other northern coast
counties, as to be no longer a cause of alarm to the whites, whose
number has considerably increased since the savages were gathered
upon these reservations. In 1860, there were only 1,498 white inhabi-
tants in this county; at the close of 1867, there were 8,176, including
2,500 children under fifteen years of age.
IJkiah Ciiy, the county seat, is situated on the main Bussian river^
on a beautiful undulating plain, well timbered with oaks and willows,
and sheltered on the east and west by lof iy mountains. Three hand-
some rivulets, flowing from Potter's, Little Lake and Walker's valleys,
empty into Bussian river just below the town, the scenery in the neigh-
borhood being wonderfully bold and picturesque. The place derives
its name from the Eukio, or Yukio tribe of Indians, who dwelt in the
valley when it was first discovered. It is the trade center of an exten-
sive agricultural district, the importance of which will be much en-
hanced when it comes to be connected with Napa valley by means of a
railroad, which it is thought may be effected in the course of a few
years. The town, having a population of about four hundred, contains
several good brick and stone stores, a neat court house, with a school-
house, church and other public buildings. Land is cheap in the cen-
tral and northern portions of this county — ^the price of good improved
fimns varying from five dollars to twenty dollars per acre.
Mendocino City, the most important coast town in the county,
stands on the north shore of Mendocino bay, at the mouth of Big river,
or Bio Orande, one hundred and twenty-eight miles northwest from San
Francisco, in the midst of the most extensive redwood forests on the
Pacific coast Besides being a shipping point for large quantities of
lumber, it is tte outlet for a large area of open country lying east of
the heavy timber belt known as the Bald mountain, a portion of which
extends for several miles along Big river, and also for nearly twenty
valleys lying in that quarter, most of which are connected with this
point by wagon roads. Mendocino, which has a good depth of water
and convenient wharves, contains four hundred and seveniy inhabi-
tants, being the most popxdous town in the county.
There are known to be valuable deposits of minerals and metals in
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196 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBNIA.
this comity, thougli little has jet been done towards their development
III 1864 a ledge of partially decomposed auriferous quartz was discov-
ered in the mountains near Ukiah City, and from which the discoverer
extracted several thousand dollars. In November, 1867, further dis-
coveries of gold bearing quartz were made in the mountains, thirty
miles northeast of Ukiah. In October of the same year, samples of ore
taken from an argentiferous lode found on Eel river, yielded, by work-
ing test made in San Francisco, at the rate of $49 60 per ton — several
auriferous lodes and some placer diggings, having been found in the
same vicinity. In 1863-4 considerable placer mining was carried on
in the neighborhood of Calpella, eight miles north of Ukiah, other
mines of this class having also been worked on the north fork of Big
river, twenty miles from Mendocino City, as well as still further north,
about the base of the Talloballey mountain, in Trinity county; and when
it is considered that the same range in which the rich placer mines of
Trinity are situated extends south into Mendocino, there is good rea-
son to believe that still further and more important discoveries will yet
be made in this county also.
Copper ores have been met with at several points in this county, the
more promising deposits being in the hills near Coyote valley, eight
miles north and fifteen miles nori^h-east of Ukiah — in Potter's valley.
Walker's valley, etc. Petroleum springs are foimd at several places in
the county, many of the settlers collecting it from the surface of the
pools, and burning it without any purification. At Punta Arenas,
where this substance exudes from a sandy shale on the sea shore, a con-
siderable amount of money was expended, in the spring of 1865, in seek-
ing after more permanent deposits, but without any marked success.
Sulphur and salt are common minerals in the county, and hot springs
are numerous. Within half a mile of the county seat, there is a spring
of natural soda water, which, if situated in a more popidous district,
or near a large city might be made to yield a handsome income.
KOBTHEBN COXINTlEa
HUMBOLDT COUNTT.
Humboldt county was organized in 1853, from portions of Trinity
and Mendocino counties, and is named after the famous German
savant and traveler. Baron von Humboldt Cape Mendocino, the most
western portion of the State, lies near the center of the copmty on
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COUNTIBS OP CAMFOBNIA. 197
itsiredtem border. Hmnboldt county is bounded on the north by
Klamath, on the east by Triniiy, on the south by Mendocino, and on
the west by the Pacific ocean. It is fifty-six miles long, north and
south, and fifty miles wide, containing 1,800,000 acres of land, of which
about 500,000 are suited to agricultural, and 300,000 to grazing pur-
poses, there being about 5,000 acres of swamp or overflowed land near
tide-water. Much of the county is covered with the outlying spurs
And more westerly ranges of the coast mountains, which, near the
coast, are clothed with heavy forests of redwood, spruce, and pine.
The timber-belt^ varying in width from eight to ten miles^ recedes
from the coast, in some places in this county, a distance of several
miles, leaving at these points an elevated terrace, or a sandy beach,
destitute of timber. Humboldt bay, in the north-western part of the
county, is a spacious, landlocked harbor, in which large-sized vessels
may enter and lie with safeiy. This beautiful harbor, which has a
good depth of water in most parts of it, is thirteen miles long and from
one and a half to five miles wide, being narrow near the middle and
expanding into a circular harbor at each end. It is popularly supposed
that this bay was first discovered from sea in April, 1850, and by land
in 1849 ; but it appears from a Bussian work, published in 1848, con-
taining a chart on which it is laid down, and which purports to derive
its information from colonial documents of the Bussian-American com-
pany, that it was discovered by citizens of the United States in 1806,
an American vessel engaged in the fur-trade having entered it that
year. The principal streams, discharging into the sea and bay within
the limits of this county, are the Mattole, Bear, Eel, Elk, and Mad
rivers. By the removal of obstructions near the mouth of Eel, it coidd
probably be rendered navigable for some distance — a sloop of one
hundred tons' burden having already passed up it for five miles ; small
vessels also succeed in running up the Elk for several miles. None of
the other streams mentioned are navigable or susceptible of being ren-
dered so, nor do any of them expand into estuaries at their outlets,
forming coves into which small vessels can enter and load, as in Men-
docino county.
The most westerly branch of the Coast Bange is rugged and broken
within the limits of this couniy — ^Mount Pierce, one of its highest
peaks, being 6,000 feet high. Cape Mendocino and "False cape," six
miles to the north, are formed by the projections of spurs, striking
from the main Coast Bange at right angles. That forming *' False cape**
continuing inland, constitutes the divide between Eel and Bear valleys;
the other uniting with and forming part of the buttress of Mount
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198 THE NATUBAL TVEALTH OP CAMFOBNIA.
Fierce. The more easterly ridge of the Coast Bange, forming the
boundary between this and Trinity county, also rises in some places
to a considerable height; Mount Bailey, one of its peaks, being
6, 357 feet high, while several lesser elevations attain an almost equal
altitude. «
In'terspersed among these several ridges and spurs of the coast
mountains, are many fertile valleys, hilly districts and rolling prairies
covered with the native grasses wild oats> and other veg^tion, r«n- *
dering them the favorite resort of bears, elk, deer, and otlter^ame>^
presenting to the herdsman one of the finest pastoral regions in
the State. The scenery here differs much from that met with fuBtii^er
south, as well as in the Sierra Nevada. The mountains, though
numerous and steep, are not so high or barren as there, while the
forests, consisting of spruce and maple, have in most places a heavy
undergrowth of wild shrubs, brambles, berry-bushes, and gigantio
ferns.
Diagonally across this wild and broken, but rich and beautiful
region, run the Mad and Eel rivers, pursuing their course towards the
north-west, about twenty miles apart, and entering the ocean — ^the for-
mer about six miles north, and the latter seven miles south of Hum-
boldt bay. Each of these streams has numerous small branches which
serve to water a large expanse of country, and supply an extensive '
power for the propulsion of machinery, which will no doubt be largely
availed of when the country is more fully settled.
The valley of Mad river, and its tributary branches, contain much
good land, a portion of which has been brought under cultivation
during the past three years. Eel river valley, the largest in the county
and which also contains a fair proportion of good land, has been
settied to some extent Its soil is productive, and especially well
adapted to the growth of the cereals, potatoes, etc. Seventy bushels
of wheat, weighing sixty-one pounds to the bushel, and over one hun-
dred bushels of oats weighing forty-four pounds to the bushel, are
often produced to the acre, while fifteen tons of potatoes to the acre is
not an unusual yield. Flax also grows to a large size, yielding two
crops a year, with great weight of seed. The humid atmosphere favors -
the growth of this and other textiles, rendering the stalk vigorous and
the fibre heavy and strong. The salmon-fishery at the mouth of this
river, is the most prolific in the State ; and the fish are said to have a
finer flavor than those caught either to the north or south of this point
The annual catch here, which ranges from eleven hundred to three
thousand barrels, might be greatiy enlarged were there more of a local
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COUNTIES OP CALIFOBNIA. 199
consuiDptioii, or better facilities for shipping the fish to a market At
present, all sent away have to be hauled to Humboldt bay, at consider-
able loss of time, risk, and expense.
The settlers in Bear river valley, keep many cows, and engage quite
extensively in butter and cheese-making, a branch of business largely
carried on in some other parts of the couniy. The Bald hills, portions
of which lie adjacent to Bear valley, aflford, throughout the entire year,
an abundance of the most nutricious kinds of pasturage.
The lofty headland of Cape Mendocino, projecting into the ocean,
renders the climate along this part of the coast more cool and humid
than it is further south ; the rainfall on Eel river, besides being more
evenly distributed throughout the year, is nearly twice as great as at
San Francisco, promoting vegetation and keeping the grass green most
of the summer. A first-class lighthouse, recently erected on this (ftipe,
was nearly finished in the fall of 1867, during which year this structure
no doubt would have been completed but for the wreck of the U. S.
steamer Shubrick, which occurred near the spot, in October of that
year, while engaged in transporting material for its use.
The scenery in the vicinity of the cape is very fine, both marine* and
inland. Mount Pierce, with its rocky spurs piled up in wild confusion,
extends to the famous headland. Among the rocks and reefs along the
shore, covered with moss and algsB, the waters seethe and foam, while
the dark forests cast their shadows over the adjacent mountains.
Humboldt bay is the center of an immense lumber trade, while on
its shores quite a large amount of ship building is carried on. In 1867
there were nine saw-mills in this couniy, and another of large capacity
in course of construction. The following figures indicate the amount
of lumber cut at the larger of these establishments during the year
1867 : the Bay mill, Dolbeer & Oarson pi*oprietors, and Vance's mill,
cut 5,000,000 feet of Ixmiber each; two mills belonging to Jones and
Eentfield, cut, the one five and the other 6,000,000 feet; the several
smaller mills, located in different parts of the county, cut, collectively,
about 4000,000 feet, making a total of 25,000,000 feet, besides which
there were a large quantity of posts, shingles and other split lumber,
sent from the couniy. These mills afford employment to nearly a thou-
sand men, and steady freight for ten or twelve schooners of two
hundred tons burden each, in transporting their lumber to San Fran-
cisco. The most of these schooners were built on the bay. Yessels
frequently load here for foreign ports, some of this lumber being
shipped direct to China., Australia^ the Sandwich islands, and Central
and South America.
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200 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNU.
General U. S. Ghrant was stationed at Fort Humboldt, at the head
of this bay, in 1853-4, during which time he was promoted to a cap-
taincy. At that period there were numerous tribes of exceedingly war-
like Indians in that region, who were finally subdued only after much
hard fighting, and not until nearly three-fourths of them had been
killed by the whites. The survivors have since been collected upon
reservations, and for the past few years the settlers have been free from
their molestations. Many of the Indian children having been trained
up to habits of industry, make excellent herders and farmers.
There is much good farming and grazing land, not only in the
smaller valleys adjacent to Humboldt bay, but also in a region lying
east of the timber belt known as the Bald hills, which, being covered
with wild oats, clover and other grasses, afford immense quantities of
paskirage. On this, a small number of sheep and cattle are now grazed,
though vast herds might here feed and fatten almost without the care
of man. Over fifty thousand pounds of wool were shipped from this
couniy in 1867. Considerable quantities of butter and cheese were
also produced, the most of which was required for home consumption.
Mattole, a fertile valley lying to the south of Cape Mendocino is so
sheltered from the prevailing westerly winds that its climate is several
degrees warmer than that of the country to the north. Good crops of
all kinds of grain, fruits and berries are easily raised in this valley, to
which agricultural operations are mostly confined, the hiUs being de-
voted to grazing. The Mattole river, abounding with salmon and other
fish, after flowing through the valley with a rapid current, creating an
extensive water power, enters the ocean ten miles south of the cape.
There are about five hundred settlers in the valley, who have built up
comfortable homes, with school-houses, churches, mills, and other
evidences of progress and thrift.
The want of good roads connecting this couniy with the great Sac-
ramento valley, and with the country lying south, has greatly tended to
retard its settlement — immigrants having no way of reaching it except
by sea, which does not admit of their taking their families, flocks and
farming implements with them without great trouble and expense.
Becently the inhabitants have been considering the policy of extending
couniy aid towards building roads leading in such directions as seemed
most likely to facilitate immigration. The excellence of the climate,
the abundance and cheapness of good land, and freedom from Mexican
grants render this one of the most desirable regions open to settle-
ment in the State.
Eureka, the county seat of Humboldt, is situated on the east side of
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COUNTIES OF CALIPORKIA. 201
tlie baj, six miles from its entrance. It is surrounded by a dense
forest of redwood, and is the principal seat of the lumber trade and
ship building on the bay. It was founded in 1851, is a thrifty and
growing town of about sixteen hundred inhabitants, contains a flourish-
ing academy, several good school-houses and churches, and numerous
well-built private dwellings. In boring an Artesian well near this
place, from which a copious supply of fresh water was obtained, though
situated but a few hundred feet from the bay, the augur, at a depth of
one hundred and forty-two feet, passed through the rotten trunk of a
redwood tree.
Areata^ at the head of the bay, with which it is connected by means
of a wharf two miles long, stands on a handsome plateau, sixty feet
above tide water. It contains seven hundred inhabitants, and is the
center of a considerable trade with the back country, and with the
mining districts on the Klamath, Trinity, and Lower Salmon rivers,
there being a good wagon road connecting it with Weaverville, the county
seat of Trinity county. Many of the merchants own their own pack
animalft, with which they convey goods over routes not practicable for
wagons, some of these leading over long routes through high and
rugged mountains, in many places covered with gloomy forests. The
land about Areata is extremely well adapted to the culture of potatoes,
many of which, of an excellent quality, are raised and shipped to San
Francisco. Two hundred thousand sacks (400,000 bushels) of potatoes
were sent from this county in 1867, one half of which were raised in
Areata township. The average yield of these vegetables is at the rate
of about two hundred and twenty bushels to the acre.
Near the Mattole river (** Clear water," of the aborigines,) are nu-
merous inflammable gas springs, which, on being ignited, form jets of
flame several feet high that bum with brilliancy till extinguished by the
wind or other accidental cause. One of these jets, discharging in the
channel of the river, presents the singular appearance, when ignited, of a
mass of flame issuing from a stream of water. Similar jets of less power
occur on Bear and Mad rivers, and also in other localities in the neigh-
borhood. Near these jets are found numerous springs of petroleum,
some of them of considerable dimensions. The petroleum found here,
(its most northern limit in the State) differs essentially in character and
mode of occurrence from that found further south. Here the oil forms
no asphaltum or other solid residuum. It either floats off in the water
with which it is combined or evaporates entirely. The geological for-
mation in which these jets and springs abound, or where the oil is found
exuding from the ground, covers an area of nearly forty square miles.
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202 THE NA!tUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
In 1864 a nnmber of companies were organized for the purpose of
obtaining oil from these springs .or boring for new deposits. A quan-
tity of surface oil of excellent qualiiy was collected, but no flowing
wells or other deep deposits were obtained, though many wells were
bored — ^the deepest to a depth of more than twelve hundred feet After
being diligently prosecuted for several years, operations were finally
suspended in 1866, though there is little doubt but valuable deposits
of this material exist in Humboldt county.
Beds of coal of good quality have been found on the headwaters of
Mad river, and in the upper part of Mattole valley, but the lack of
roads for transporting it to a shipping point, and the absence of a home
market, have prevented any work being done to ascertain the extent of
these deposits,
TMNITY COUNTY.
This county, which derives its name from the principal stream flow-
ing through it, is bounded by Klamath and Siskiyou on the north, by
Shasta and Tehama on the east, by Mendocino on the south, and by
Humboldt on the west The principal industrial pursuit is gold
mining, confined almost exclusively to the various branches of placer
digging. The whole surface of the county is covered with chains of
lofty mountains composed of granite and auriferous slates, the sides of
which have been eroded into deep gulches and canons. Though the
county covers an area of 2,400 square miles — being eighty miles long
and thirty miles wide — it contains scarcely more than ten or fifteen
thousand acres of farming land, of which but three thousand five hun-
dred acres were under cultivation in 1867. The arable land is mostly
confined to the valley of the Trinity river and its branches. In this
and several smaller valleys are many fertile and well tilled patches of
land which produce most of the grain, fruits and vegetables, and dairy
products required for home consumption. The Trinity and Salmon
mountains, separating this county from Shasta, reach so great an eleva-
tion that some portions of them are covered with snow all summer.
Parties attempting to cross them in the winter have often perished from
the intense cold and the depth of the snow — ^tho remains of some of
these unfortunate travelers being found nearly every summer.
The first white man who entered the territory now constituting this
county was P. B. Beading, then a hunter and trapper, who in the spring
of 1845 left Sutter's Fort with thirty men to trap for otter and beaver
in these mountains. Arriving upon a large stream it was nsuned the
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•COUKTIES OF CAUFOBKIA.
Trinitj, tmder the supposition that it emptied into Trinidad bay, as
laid down on the old Spanish charts.
On the discovery of gold, Beading; who had meantime remained in
the country, again visited this mountainous region, taking with him a
party of sixty Indians, through whose aid he obtained a large amount
of gold on Trinity river — ^Readings bar, on that stream, being named
after him. Since that period this gentleman has resided on an exten-
sive farm owned by him in the upper Sacramento valley.
Trinity river, the only large stream in the county, rises in Scott's
mountain, and receiving many small tributaries on its course, after
running first southwest and then northwest, empties into the Klamath,
of which it forms the largest branch.
The mountains throughout this county, which are covered for the
most part with pine, spruce, maple, fir and oak timber, abound with
game — some portions of them containing considerable quantities of
grass and other herbage. There are fourteen small saw mills scattered
over the county. They are all run by water, and cut an aggregate of
about one and a quarter million feet of lumber annually — the whole
for local use.
The population of Trinity county, numbering 5,125 in 1860, had
been reduced to less than 4,000 at the close of 1867. A good wagon
road has been constructed connecting Weaverville, the county seat,
with the Sacramento valley on the east, and also, one running to Hum-
boldt bay on the wesi This town is situated in a pleasant valley near
the confluence of Weaver creek and Garden gulch, on a flat known to
be rich in gold. It is nearly three thousand feet above the sea level,
and is surrounded with mountains, portions of which are covered with
eternal snow. It derives its name, as does also the creek mentioned,
from a miner named Weaver, who at an early period obtained a large
quantity of gold from the latter. The town is handsomely laid out and
well buUt up. Many of the dwellings have gardens, vineyards and
fruit trees planted about them, indicating a high degree of comfort
among the inhabitants. The population, which at one time numbered
1,800, is now much less. This place, since founded, has suffered
severely from fires and floods, having been nearly destroyed four times
by the former, and twice greatly damaged by the latter, and like many
other mountain towns, is now gradually decaying as the diggings in the
vicinity become' exhausted.
Trinity was at one time a very prolific mining county, the annual
yield of its placers having for several years in succession reached over
$1,000,000. This class of mines is still yielding fairly, the average
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204 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP OALIFOBNIA.
earnings of the mining population being, perhaps, equal to those of
any other county in the State. There are also many auriferous quartz
lodes in Trinity of great supposed value — few of them having been
thoroughly prospected — ^while no attempt at working them on an exten-
sive scale has as yet been made. The rugged nature of the country
in which these lodes are situated, and the want of local roads have
done much towards preventing heavy machinery being taken into this
county, and consequently towards delaying the development of thip
class of mines. There are forty-five main ditches in the county, aggre-
gating one himdred and fifty miles in length, constructed for the pur-
pose of conducting water to points where used for washing. The cost
of these works amounts in the aggregate to about $225,000, many of
them having paid, as some still do, good interest on the investment
KLAMATH COUNTY.
Elamath county is bounded by Del Norte on the north, by Del
Norte and Siskiyou on the east, by Trinity and Humboldt on the south,
and by the Pacific ocean on the west. It is about forty-five miles long
east and west, and forty miles wide. Its topography is similar to that
of Trinity county, already described — almost the entire area consisting
of steep, lofty mountains, separated from each other by deep ravines^
their sides eroded by innumerable gulches and canons. Through these
depressions flow streams of greater or less magnitude, accordingly as
swollen by the melting of the snow in the spring and summer. There
is but little agricultural or meadow land in this county, the rivers and
creeks running through steep narrow gorges, preventing the formation
of alluvial bottoms along them. There is scarcely any arable land
along the Klamath river, though it runs, with its windings, a distance
of more than sixty miles within the limits of the county. The total
amount of land under cultivation does not exceed two or three thousand
acres. Hoopa valley, about thirty miles long and two wide, situated
at the jimction of the Trinity and Klamath rivers, contains the largest
body of good land in the county, but it is not much cultivated, being
the site of an Indian reservation. Many portions of the mountains and
the coimtry towards the sea are well timbered with spruce, fir, pine,
cedar and redwood, the latter being confined to a belt eight or ten
miles wide near the coast, where some of these trees attain gigantic
proportions. There are seven saw mills in the county, which made
during the year 1867 over 2,000,000 feet of lumber, more than half
of which was cut by the Trinidad mill, on Trinidad bay, whence the
most of it was shipped abroad. The only grist mill in Klamath is on
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COUNTIES OF CAIIFOBNIA. 206
the Indian reservation, being the property of the United States gov-
ernment. A strip of country about five miles wide and twenty long,
lying near the coast between Trinidad and Humboldt, comprises nearly
all the level land in the county — the most of it, however, being heavily
timbered, but little has been brought under tillage. To the east of the
redwood timber belt lies a portion of the Bald hills, already described.
Placer mining constitutes the leading pursuit of the population of
Klamath, though there are many lodes of gold bearing quartz in differ-
ent parts of the county, some of which have been sufficiently pros-
pected to demonstrate that they would pay well for working. In 1861
there were twelve quartz mills along the banks of Salmon river, there
being numerous valuable quartz veins in this vicinity. The most of
these mills having been destroyed by the flood of 1862, they have not
since been rebuilt, leaving but three at present in the county. Klam-
ath contains a number of small ditches, aggregating about one hundred
miles in length, and costing $130,000. Gold Blufl^ the discovery of
which led to much speculation and excitement in the spring of 1861,
and where the branch of mining known as beach washing has for many
years been carried on, is situated in this coimty.
Ellamath county is situated wholly to the west of the main Coast
Bange, which here makes a broad deflection to the easi The Salmon
river mountains, dividing the Salmon from the Klamath river, are a
broad broken range, running northwest and southeast, reaching an
altitude, in some places, of perpetual snow. The principal rivers are
the Klamath, Trinity, Salmon and Kedwood. The coimty derives its
name from the first mentioned stream, signifying in the Indian tongue
''swiftness." This river heads in a series of large lakes situated on the
confines of Oregon and California, and after pursuing a devious course
through Siskiyou, Del Norte and Klamath counties, enters the ocean a
little to the north of Gold Blufll Once over the bar at its mouth, which,
from its frequent shifting is difficult and dangerous of entrance, small
steamers can run up forty miles, to its confluence with the Trinity,
below which point it carries a volume of water equal to the Sacramento.
Confined to a narrow, deep canon, this stream frequently rises to a
great height, it having, during the flood of 1862, reached a stage one
hundred and twenty feet above its ordinary level, at which time it car-
ried off a wire suspension bridge ninety-seven feet above low water
mark, and also swept away most of the soil and improvements on its
banks. The mountains bordering this river reach a considerable alti-
tude— ^Prospect and Flagstaflf peats being upwards of six thousand feet
high, while some unnamed ridges are still more lofty.
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206 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIPORKIA,
The Trinity, Salmon and Bedwood all take their rise in the coast
mountains, run northwest, and empty, the former two into the Klamath,
and the latter into the Pacific ocean. Near the sources of the Salmon
are the remains of an extinct volcano, an area of nearly two square
miles being covered with lava, obsidian, and similar matter — their
occurrence the more noticeable from being the only evidences of vol-
canic action in this portion of the Coast Bange. The rocks here are
almost exclusively slate and granite, and this, like Trinity county, is
without hot or mineral springs and deposits of sulphur or petroleum.
Owing to its extremely rugged surface, but few wagon roads have
been constructed in Klamath, most of the transportation being done
with pack animals. During the winter, when the snow is deep, com-
munication with the coast is kept up by snow-shoe express.
The placer mines here not having been worked so extensively as in
the coimties further east and south, pay better average wages, perhaps,
than in any other part of the State. Many of the diggings, under the
action of the floods, have also the further peculiarity of partially renew-
ing themselves every year. Bars, worked out, are swept away, and new
deposits formed, often aflfording virgin diggings. Water, in most local-
ities, is also abundant, costing the miner but little. On the other hand,
however, the coimtry is difficidt of access, the cost of living great, and
operations much interrupted during the winter by reason of the cold
and snow.
The first mining done in this county was in the spring of 1850, at
Orleans bar, now the county seat The present population of Klamath
does not exceed fifteen himdred, a much smaller number than it con-
tained ten years ago. The climate here is subject to heavy fogs and
dews during the summer and to excessive rains — snow, on the moun-
tains— during the winter. The precipitation along this part of the
coast, as well as to the north, is much greater than at points further
south, the quantity of rain and snow almost equalling that falling in
the Sierra Nevada. The storms of thunder and lightning that some-
times occur among the higher peaks of the Coast Bange are grand and
appalling, being often kept up continuously for many hours.
The native tribes inhabiting this region, in common with those
throughout the entire northern portion of the State, are large and well
proportioned, but sullen, fierce and warlike, and being well armed, have
given the settlers and miners much trouble ever since the first arrival
of the latter in the coimtry. These Indians are usually divided into
three classes by the whites : the Coast, Klamath and Hoopa tribes —
readily distinguished by their appearance and habits. The first occupy
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COUNTIES OF CALIFORNIA. 207
the southwestern portion of the connty, along the sea coast, from Mad
to Bedwood river ; this tribe is nearly exterminated, the remnant left
having greatly degenerated through intercourse with the whites. The
Elamaths live in the mountains that border the main river from its
jimction with the Trinity north into Oregon. In 1866 the various fam-
ilies composing this tribe numbered two thousand warriors ; they are
divided into the Mekares, or Upper, and the Weitchepecs, or Lower
Elamaths. It was the former who, surprising Fremont's camp, in 18^,
killed several of his party.
The Hoopas had their rancherias in the valley that bears their
name, and on the mountains adjacent. A few hundred, mostly women
and children, are all that is left of this tribe — ^which remnant has been
collected and placed on the reservation in Hoopa valley.
These northern races, besides being larger and more athletic, are
of a lighter complexion than those in the interior and southern portions
of the State, the men being well developed, and many of the women
by no means ill-looking, though the latter greatly disfigure themselves,
at least in the estimation of the whites, by tatooing their chins in a
hideous manner. The males are well skilled in the use of fire arms,
and dexterous in all the arts and devices of the chase.
Gold Blu£^ the discovery of which, in the spring of 1851, lead to one
of those excitements culminating in sudden migratory movements, so
common among the mining populations of California, is situated on
the ocean beach, about fifteen miles south of the mouth of Klamath
river, and twenty north of Trinidad bay. The bluff consists of a high
sandy ridge or headland, against which the waves impinging, wear it
slowly away. Mixed with the sand of which this bluff is composed are
particles of fine gold, which, as the former is washed down by the action
of the wavesj are released, and mingling with the shore sand, forms the
gold beach found at the foot of the bluff.
Orleans Bar, a small town of about one hundred and twenty-five
inhabitants, is situated on the Klamath river, sixty-five miles south-
east of Trinidad, and is worthy of notice only as being the county seat.
Trinidad, the only port in the county, contains about two hundred
and fifty inhabitants. The town stands on a ridge, which, projecting
south, shelters the harbor on the northwest. The port is an open road-
stead, having deep water and good anchorage, but is exposed on the
south and west There are extensive wharves here, affording good
accommodations for the increasing trade of the place.
Auriferous lodes of large size and supposed value have been found
at several places in this county; and although the ores, so far as tested,
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208 THE KATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNU.
have proved extremely rich, the lack of cheap transportation to a ship-
ping point will probably prevent any extensive developments being
made Jiere for a long time.
DEL NORTE COUNTY.
This connty, organized in 1857, occupies the extreme northwestern
comer of the State, having Oregon on the north, Siskiyou county on
the east, Klamath couniy on the south, and the Pacific ocean on the
west It is about fifty miles long, east and west, and thirty miles wide.
In its geographic and climatic features, Del Norte strongly resembles
Trinity and Klamath counties, already described. The Klamath river,
running across its southwestern border, and Smith's river, flowing cen-
trally through it, are the only considerable streams within its limits.
The entire southeastern part of the county is corrugated by a heavy
chain of mountains, with numerous subordinate and parallel ranges,
running northeast and southwest There is also a similar tier of moun-
tain ranges extending north and south, near the coast, the most west-
\ erly about six hundred feet high, and the main ridge, further back,
\ three thousand feet high. The most of the county is well timbered '
with redwood, spruce and pine. It contains a number of small fertile
valleys and a considerable extent of rich prairies, together with three
thousand five himdred acres of swamp and overflowed lands. The
number of acres enclosed in 1867 amounted to about 8,000, of which
3,500 were under cultivation, the most of it being planted to wheat, of
which grain there were about 16,000 bushels raised, with 2,000 of bar-
ley and 9,000 of oats. The yield of the cereals here is generally large
— ^wheat frequently turning out from thirty to forty bushels to the acre,
and barley and oats much more. All the vegetables, dairy products
and fruits required for/ the use of the inhabitants were also raised, the
soil and climate being well suited to the growth of all these staples.
Vines and berries also thrive with little care, and stock keep in good
condition throughout the winter on what they can pick running at large.
Several small flocks of sheep are grazed in the coimty — a few thousand
pounds of wool being clipped every year. The horses and mules kept
for draft number about 2, 000, with about an equal number of neat cattle.
There are no quartz mills in this coimty, though it contains many auri-
ferous veins of much promise, and placer mining is carried on with
success along the Klamath river and several of its tributaries, and also
on the headwaters of Althouse creek. For introducing water into
these diggings fourteen small ditches have been constructed at an aggre-
gate expense of about $60,000. With additional water supplies the
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00UNTIE8 OF CALIFOBNU. 209
product of the placers might be much increased, there being jet a
large scope of these mines but partially exhausted. The county con-
tains one' grist mill, situated in Smith river valley, capable of grinding
fifty barrels of flour daily, and four saw mills of small capacity, sit- v^
uated in different localities, engaged in making lumber for local uses,
there being none exported from the county. A good wagon road has
been constructed, leading from Crescent City, the county seat, to Illinois
valley, Oregon, a distance of forty-five miles. It cost $50,000, and
serves for the conveyance of supplies to the Althouse and other dig-
gings in southwestern Oregon.
A number of cupriferous lodes, some of them of good size and rich
in metal, were discovered at a point about fifteen miles northeast of
Crescent City, some ten or twelve years ago. Two or three of these
were partially developed at the time, and several hundred tons of high
grade ores taken out Owing to their remoteness from market, however,
and other unfavorable circumstances, but little has been done with
these mines for the past ten years» though there is little doubt but they
will ultimately prove valuable. It has recently been discovered that
the croppings of some of these cupriferous lodes, consisting of mimdic,
are rich in free gold, forming deposits similar to those now being
worked extensively and profitably in Placer, Amador and Calaveras
coimties.
The only town of any size in this county is Crescent City, contain-
ing a population of about five hundred, and, which being favorably
situated on a small but safe harbor, the only one along this part of the '
coast, must ultimately become the shipping point for a large back
country, insuring its future growth and importance. The entire popu*
lation of the county amounts to about two thousand five hundred.
SISKIYOU OOUNTT.
This county occupies the northeastern comer of the State, being
bounded on the north by Oregon, on the east by the State of Nevada,
on the south by Lassen, Shasta and Trinity, and on the west by Klamath
and Del Norte counties — ^its length, east and west, being one hundred
and sixty, and its width, fifty-eight miles. It contains 5,300,000 acres,
of which 250,000 are adapted to agriculture. In the year 1867 there
were 50,000 acres of land enclosed, and 20,000 under cultivation. ^
About 1,000,000 acres are covered with valuable forests, and nearly half >
as much more by several large lakes, of which Goose, Bhett and Wright
are the principal. A lai^e proportion of the county consists of rugged
mountains, deep canons and elevated, barren table lands. Mount
U
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210 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
Shasta^ situated in the southwestern part of the county, at the junction
of the Sierra Nevada and Coast Banges of mountains, reaches an alti-
tude of fourteen thousand four hundred and forty feet.
The Klamath, Pitt and Scott's rivers are the only large streams
flowing through the coimty. The former has its source in the Lower
Klamath lake, situated partly in California and partly in Oregon, issu-
ing from the southwestern side of which, near its middle, it flows in a
westerly course until it enters Del Norte county. Scott river rises in
the Scott range of mountains, runs northerly and joins the Klamath,
near the western border of the county. Pitt river issues, a large stream,
from the south end of Goose lake, runs southwesterly through Shasta
county^ until it unites with the Sacramento, forming the principal branch
of that river. A large scope of coimtry lying near the central and
northern part of this coimty is without any surface drainage to the
ocean, the water being collected in lakes, ponds and lagoons, whence it
escapes by evaporation or subterranean channels.
The principal agricultural lands in the county are located in Scoti^
Shasta and Surprise valleys, the former two lying in its western, and the
latter in its extreme northeastern part. There are many other valleys
of small size containing a little good land, besides a limited quantiiy on
some of the table lands found in the northern and eastern sections of
the county — ^these latter also aflbrding a considerable amount of pas-
turage. Scott*s valley, forty miles long and seven miles wide, lying
between the Trinity and Salmon mountains, which reach a height of six
thousand feet, contains a large body of excellent land, nearly all of
which is under cultivation. Grain, fruits and vegetables of nearly
every description, are grown here without trouble, and generally yield
well. The average yield of the wheat harvest of 1867 was twenty-five
bushels per acre, some fields turning out as high as forty-five bushels
to the acre. There are eight grist mills in the valley and its connect-
ing branches, which, during the year 1867, manufactured seventy thou-
sand barrels of flour. The product of these mills was greatly esteemed
for its excellence, owing to the superior quality of the grain. Owing
to the elevation of this county, nearly three thousand feet above the
level of the sea, the harvests are late, the grain not being reaped until
August or September. Frosts are frequent during the spring, and even
in the summer months. The weather in the summer is warm, with cool
nights; in the winter, often severe, especially on the mountains, where
the snow falls to a great depth. Snow also lies to the depth of a foot
or two, often for several weeks, in most of the valleys, rendering the
use of snow shoes and sleighs a general necessity. The mountain,
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OOUKTIES OF GALIFOBKU. 211
river and yallej derive their name from a hunter and prospector named
Scott, who first entered the latter in the spring of 1849.
Surprise valley, lying in the extreme northeastern comer of the
county, and partly in the State of Nevada, is about sixty miles long and
fifteen wide. It is one of the most beautiful and fertile of all the val-
lejrs lying in the high Sierra, being skirted on two sides with lofty, tim- *^
bered mountains, and containing large tracts of fertile land, watered by
numerous springs and streams, and covered with a luxuriant growth of
wild clover and other grasses. On the east side of this valley are three
beautiful lakes, extending in a ehaiu nearly its whole length and cover-
ing more than one half of its surface. The upper or most northern of
these lakes is sixteen miles long and five wide; the central one is
twenty miles long by about three miles wide, and the southern and low-
est fifteen miles long and three miles wide. Neither of these lakes have
any outlet, though each receives the waters of a number of streams
flowing from the mountains on the west They contain no fish, though
trout are found in the mountain streams running into them. At certain
seasons of the year the whole valley swarms with ducks, geese, cranes,
pelicans, and other wild fowl. All the land suitable for farming lies
on the west side of these lakes, consisting of a strip of rich black loam,
from two to six miles wide, gently sloping to their borders. Where
not under cultivation, this land is matted with wild pea vines, grass
and clover, so rank that it is often difficult to ride through it. This
vaDey is said to have been known to Calif omians since 1852, but derives
its name from the surprise its discovery caused a party from the State
of Nevada, who came upon it while in pursuit of a band of maurading
Indians, in the spring of 1861. It was supposed to be within the
limits of that State until the establishment of the boundary a few
years since showed it to lie mostly in California. This valley was first
settled in 1866, when a small company entered it and located a number
of land claims. Since then other settlers have gone there — ^the popu-
lation now amounting to three or four hundred. At Fort Bidwell,
situated on a handsome eminence at the north end of the valley, over-
looking a large portion of it, a small garrison of soldiers is stationed,
to protect the inhabitants against the Indians in the vicinity, who have
always been troublesome. A grist mill and saw mill have been erected *^
in the valley, for the accomodation of the settlers. Several thousand
acres of land have been enclosed, and part of it placed under culti-
vation— the cereals here yielding remarkably welL A market for the
products of the farmer is found in the Owyhee and Humboldt mines —
the former distant about two hundred miles, in an easterly, and the
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212 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNLL
latter one hundred and thirty miles, in a southeasterly direction. The
garrison at the fort, while it shall remain, will also take a portion of
these products, and the Black Bock mines, lying fifty miles south, will
create a further opening for them, should the lodes there prove yalu-
able. There is also a good prospect that both quartz and placer mines
will yet be found at no great distance to the north of this point, in
Oregon.
Fort Bidwell, erected in 1865, occupies a commanding site at the
north end of the yalley. Willow creek, a large stream of pure water,
flows by it, and situated a few rods above the post, is a large boiling
spring, the waters of which, besides being useful for bathing purposes,
could be advantageously employed for irrigation. The mountain
.vines and slopes, lying two or three miles west of the main road lead-
ing through the valley, are timbered with pine, fir and cedar, affording
fuel and aU needed material for fencing and lumber. The climate
here is similar to that of the other elevated valleys of Califomia — ^the
days warm, with cool nights, in the summer — the winters cold, with
deep snow on the mountains, and but little in the valleys ; the weather
throughout the rest of the year being generally dry, and the tempera-
ture delightfuL
Goose lake, thirty miles long and ten wide, is situated eight miles
west of Surprise valley — a low range of mountains lying between them.
The valley of this lake contains a large body of fine timber and between
thirty and forty thousand acres of exceUent farming and grazing lands,
but it is without settlers ; its remoteness, the hostile character of the
surrounding Indians, and the absence of rich mineral deposits, having
thus far detered the whites from locating in ii
Pitt river, carrying a heavy body of water, debouches from the
south end of Goose lake, and, pursuing a southerly course, flows for
fifteen miles through a desolate plateau covered with large boulders
and masses of blackened lava, known as the "Devil's Garden," at the
end of which it rushes, roaring and foaming, through a deep defile,
named, from its wild and rugged aspect, ** the Devil's canon." Emerg-
ing from this gorge, it meanders quietly through Spring valley, so called
because of a deep pool of hot water situated on its banks, which, agi-
tated by the chemical action going on in its subterranean chambers,
throws up a volume of water as large as a hogshead to a height of ten
feet, which falls back into a large circular basin with the noise of a
mountain cascade. The country adjacent to Pitt river, and, with few
exceptions, the immediate valley of the stream itself, is for the most
part an arid, barren and timberless region. There is, however, some
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commEs OF caufobnia. 213
good land along the river, in the sonthem part of the cotinty, where
also the juniper and cedar attain a size making them serviceable for ^
faeL
Fall river, a large stream having its source in a group of immense
springs at the eastern base of Mount Shasta, flows through a fissure-
like channel, pursuing a singularly devious course for a distance of
sixty miles, when it empties into Pitt river.
Mount Shasta, in its isolation the grandest peak, and for a longtime
supposed the loftiest mountain in the State, is situated in the south-
westerly part of this county. It reaches an altitude of fourteen thou-
sand four hundred and forty feet, its apparent height being somewhat
diminished by the general elevation of the country and the many lofty
peaks and ranges that surround it For four or five thousand feet
below its summit it is covered with snow at all seasons of the year —
this being the only mountain in the State that remains snow-clad for
any considerable distance below its summit throughout the entire year,
Lassen's Peak, the Downieville Buttes, and all the other more lofty
points in the State losing their snow late in the summer, except
where it has drifted into deep ravines or lies under the shadow of clifis
on their northern slopes. The base of this mountain is covered, except
on the north, to the height of between seven and eight thousand feet,
with heavy forests of sugar and pitch pine. On its northern slope, t-''
owing to the poverty of the soil, the only trees found consist of a growth
of stunted cedar and oaL Scattered through the higher parts of this
heavy timber belt occur patches of chaparral, which, being indicative
of a barren soil, are locally known as the *' Devil's acres." Up to an
altitude of seven thousand feet, the trees are of the usual dimensions;
at eight thousand feet, forest trees disappear entirely, a few stunted and
hardy shrubs struggling for existence up to the height of about nine
thousand feet, between which and the line of perpetual snow, scarcely
a moss or lichen is to be seen. Above the latter point, and reaching
to an altitude of twelve thousand feet, the only sign of life met with is
a low form of vegetable of a vermillion color, which, generated in and
staining the snow, causes this belt to be known as the '^red snow."
Above the fields of this most primitive vegetation, the cone of the
mountain lifts itself — a glittering pavilion of untarnished snow. The
best season for ascending the mountain is in the month of July or
August Earlier than July the snow is not sufficiently gone — ^while,
towards the end of the summer, the fires, common in the forests, fill
the air with smoke, interfering with and often completely destroying
the view. The ascent is made from the west side, and until a height
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214 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
of twelve thonsand feet is reached is attended with no other difficulty
than that always incident to the attenuated condition of the atmosphere
at similar elevations. Above twelve thousand feet the ascent becomes
more steep and laborious, the slope of the mountain inclining at an
angle varying from thirty to forty-five degrees. Three days are
required to make the journey with comfort and satisfaction. The first
night is spent near the line of perpetual snow ; the next day is con-
sumed in going to the top of the mountain and returning to the spot
left in the morning, where the second night is passed — the balance of
the descent being made the following day. A good supply of blankets
is required, as the temperature at this night-camp generally falls to the
freezing point before morning. At an elevation of thirteen thousand
two hundred and forty feet, a rudely circular, and nearly level space
occurs^ evidently the bottom of an ancient crater, one side of which
having been broken away, a portion of its rim still remains, forming
the summit of the mountain, which lifts itself one thousand two hun-
dred and four feet above. On this level area are a number of orifices
from which steam and sulphurous gases constantly escape — ^the feeble
action of this solfatara being the only surviving manifestation of those
stupendous forces that piled up the masses that form this extinct vol-
cano. The thermometer, at midday, in summer, generally stands below
the freezing point on the summit of the mountain. The air about its
top is cold, even in the warmest weather, and is almost always in brisk
circulation, the summit being frequently swept by strong gales that keep
exposed portions of its sides denuded of snow. The outline of this
mountain, from whatever side viewed, presents a nearly regular cone,
the symmetry of which is somewhat marred, when observed from the
southwest, by the interposition of the side cone, not two thousand feet
lower than the main mountain, from which it stands whoUy separated.
No one has ever been on its top, it being steeper and more difficult of
ascent than Shasta itself. The sky outline of the latter has a general
inclination of about twenly-eight degrees on one side and of thirty-one
degrees on the other, while the westerly slope of this side-cone inclines
at about thirty-six degrees. While, as stated, certain exposed and
rocky portions of the main mountain are denuded of snow, these bare
spots disappear when viewed from a distance, the whole surface above
the snow line seeming an unbroken sheet of white, distinctly separated
from the dark belt of forest below. The entire mass of the mountain
is of volcanic origin, the base consisting of trachitic lava and the more
elevated portions of basaltic rock, there being but little scoria^ ashes
or other loose material to be seen, except near the summit, where there
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA. 216
is a heaTj bed of Tolcanic breccia. That this, however, as well as the
adjacent cone, and many other peaks scattered over the conntrj to the
north, is wholly of volcanic origin, having been erupted from a crater-
like orifice, admits of no doubi The exact height of Mount Shasta,,
for a long time a somewhat mooted question, w^ a few years since
definitely settled by the members of the State Gteological Survey, in
accordance with the figures above given.
Near Elk valley, which affords some of the finest views of Mount
Shasta, anywhere to be had, there are said to be numerous caves which,
though never fully explored, are supposed to extend for a great distance
under the lava formation that here marks the geology of the country.
Near Kurd's ranch there occurs also a very extensive cavern known as
"Pluto's cave." It consists of a long gallery in some parts sixty feet
high, and varying in width from twenty to fifty feet. The soil of Elk
valley, composed mostly of volcanic sand, is barren and incapable of
sustaining any vegetation, except a few worthless shrubs.
Shasta valley, like the Pitt valley, is a barren lava plain, contain-
iog, however, a few fertile spots. Rising from this plain, which has
an altitude of over three thousand feet, are numerous conical hills of
volcanic origin, that impart to the region a wild and rugged aspeci
There are many other mountains, valleys, caverns, and other natural
objects and points of interest, in this extensive county, rendering it an
attractive field to the scientific and curious.
Notwithstanding so large a portion of Siskiyou is covered with
sterile valleys and arid plateaus, there is still much good farming and
grazing land within its limits, as weU as a wide scope of valuable
placers. Numerous promising quartz lodes have also been found in
the western part of the county, some of which have been extensively
and profitably worked. Without going into more details, the magni-
tude of these several interests is sufficiently indicated by the following
statements: The value of the real and personal property in the county
was last year estimated at $2,000,000; 50,000 acres of land were en-
closed, and 20,000 under cidtivation. The number of acres planted to
wheat were 3,500, producing 70,000 bushels ; barley, 1,200 acres, pro-
ducing 25,000 bushels; and of oats, 3,000 acres, producing 80,000
bushels.
There are at this time six quartz mills in the county, carrying forty
stamps, erected at an aggregate cost of $60,000 ; eight grist mills^
capable of grinding four himdred barrels of fiour daily, and costing a
total of $150,000; fifteen saw miUs, with capacity to cut from two to
four thousand feet of lumber, each, daily, built at an average expense of
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316 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALXVOBNU.
$6, 000. There are twenty-one ditches constructed for introdacing water
into the mines; these vary in length from three to eighfy-fiye miles, and
oost from one to three hundred thousand dollars each — the latter being
the amount expended in the construction of the Shasta Biver Oanal,
built to carry the waters of that stream into the diggings about Yreka^
and points further north, a distance of eighty-five miles. The present
population of Siskiyou is estimated at six thousand, being somewhat
less than it was eight or ten years ago.
SHASTA COUNTY.
This county deriyes its name from Mount Shasta^ formerly situated
within its limits, but thrown into Siskiyou on the creation of the latter
from a portion of Shasta, in 1852. Shasta is bounded on the north bj
Siskiyou, on the east by Lassen, on the south by Plumas and Tehama,
and on the west by Trinity county. The county is watered by the Sac-
ramento river and its numerous confluents, which, from a point near its
southern border, radiate to its outer limits in every direction, render-
ing it one of the best watered counties in the State. Eroded by the
action of so many large streams, the surface of the country is greatly
diversified by mountains, hiUs and valleys — some of the ridges between
these water courses, forming outlying spurs from the Sierra Nevada on
the east and the Coast Bange on the west, being rugged and lofty. The
main Sierra^ trending northwest to form its junction with the coast
mountains, crosses the eastern portion of the county, imparting to it a
truly Alpine character. Standing in this range, and stretching two-
thirds of the distance across the county, are four high peaks, severally
named, Lassen's, Crater, Magee's, and Bumey's peak, separated from
each other by spaces of ten or twelve miles. They are all of volcanic
origin, as are many other peaks and buttes in the vicinity, and else-
where in the county.
Lassen's Peak has four distinct summits, the highest of which has
an altitude of ten thousand five hundred and seventy-seven feet, as
determined by Messrs. Brewer and King; of the State Geological Stir-
vey, who ascended it in 1863, and ascertained its height by careful
meastirement. These summits, rising from two hundred and fifty to
three hundred and fifty feet above the common level of the mountain,
are only the remaining portions of what was once the rim of the great
crater, formed when this was an active volcano. Near the top of this
mountain occur, as in the case of Mount Shasta, evidences of long con-
tinued solfatara action, which here has ceased many years since.
Viewed from the north or south, this peak presents the shape of a flat-
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OOUlffTn» OF GAUFOBNIA. 217
ened dome, while, seen from the east or west, it has the appearance of
a yeiy steep cone. It is timbered for about two thirds of the distance
to its summit, which is covered with snow on its northern slopes a good
portion of the year. Some of the cones to the north, both those along
the line of the Sierra and others scattered over the volcanic table lands
in this part of the county, present, in their outlines, steep, pointed
ridges, while, in other cases, thej have circular craters on the top, all
indicating for them a common origin. They vary in height from six
thousand to nine thousand feet, there being at a point five miles north
of Lassen's Peak a cluster of irregular truncated cones of less altitude,
and evidently of more recent formation, and which, between 1854 and
1857, were constantly emitting large quantities of steam and gases.
Numerous traces of well marked glacial action are found on Lassen's
Peak, at an elevation of between six thousand and nine thousand feei
One of the best preserved craters in this r^on, so abounding with
the remains of former volcanoes, is found near Butte creek, ten miles
east of Fort Beading, where a cone, rising from the lava slope to a
height of two thousand six hundred and thirty-three feet — eight hxm-
dred and fifty-six feet above its base — ^presents a well defined crater on
its top, the rim about nine hundred yards in circumference and two
hundred and twenty-five feet deep, nearly circular, remaining almost
entirely perfect.
With so many rivers and moxmtain torrents, the surface of this
coxmty is cut by numerous valleys, some of them devoid of alluvial
deposits, while others contain a considerable scope of bottom lands
along the margin of the streams, or spread out into broad flats or moun-
tain meadows. The climate in these valleys, though warm in the sum-
mer, is, throughout the balance of the year, mild and equable, snow
and extreme cold weather being of rare occurrence even in the winter.
That the temperature does not fall to a very low point, is shown by the
fact that not only the hardier fruits of the north, but also the fig, pom-
egranate, cotton, almond, and other semi-tropical plants and fruits thrive
here in the open air — Shasta being also one of the few counties in the
State in which tobacco has been grown in notable quantities and of
tolerable flavor.
The entire northern and western portions of the county are covered
with forests of conifers of nearly every variety, except the redwood,
which is never found so far from the coast ; on the lower hills, scattered
groves of live oak are common, with a species of ash along some of
the streams. The eastern part of the county abounds in hot and boil-
ing springs, several of which occur in the vicinity of Lassen's Peak;,
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218 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
and are worthy of at least a passing notice. From one of the number,
known as the "Steamboat Spring," issues quite a stream of boiling
water, while from numerous vents, scattered over several acres in the
vicinity, clouds of steam are constantly escaping. In one place a steam
jet issuing in a pool of hot water, throws it up to a height of seven or
eight feet with a loud noise. Formerly this action was much more vio-
lent than at present, the column of water being thrown to a height of
over twenty feet. Two miles northwest of this spring, and nearly eight
east of the summit of Lassen's Peak, is a pool of hot water six hun-
dred feet long and three hundred wide, known as the '' Boiling lake.''
From this pool, the water, always kept at boiling point, issues in a
stream about two feet wide and several inches deep. It is of a milky
color, and in places thickened almost to the consistency of cream.
From this viscid material, especiaUy about the banks of the pond,
where it has accumulated, jets of steam puff up, forming a sort of mud
pustule, or minature volcano, from a few inches to three or four feet
in height Clouds of steam and sulphurous gases escape from crevices
in the surrounding lava, which is slowly wasting away under their
action. About four miles northwest of the Boiling lake are still more
copious hot springs, their chemical action on the adjacent rocks being
also much more extensive. They occur for half a mile along a canon,
and discharge a large volume of water. The neighborhood abounds in
sulphur; this mineral, sublimated in the numerous cavities, crystalizing
on the surrounding rocks in the most delicate and beautiful manner.
Salt and sulphur springs occur in various parts of the county, some of
the latter being considered valuable for their medicinal properties.
An outcrop of coal of very fair quality has been found on Cow creek,
whence it has been traced for eight or ten miles in a northwest direc-
tion. This bed is composed of several strata,, one of which has been
opened to a considerable depth, and found to consist of about one foot
of coal associated with several feet of shale. This coal has been tried
by the blacksmiths in the neighborhood, and pronounced well suited
for the uses of the forge. A coal vein has also been extensively opened
near Bound mountain, and exhibits at the present time a very favor-
able appearance.
The population of this county is estimated at about six thousand,
of whom one thousand two hundred are residents of the town of Shasta^
the county seat. This is a lively place and has a considerable trade in
the summer, being a supply point for a large scope of mining country
to the north, east and west. It was at one time an active mining camp,
but the exhaustion of the placers in the immediate viciniiy has left it
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CX)UMTI£S OF CALIFOBNIA. 219
dull in this respect — it still, however, presents a comfortable andinvit*
ing aspect, being fall of gardens, orchards and yinejards, and contain-*
ing a number of well built private dwellings and public edifices.
The settlement of some of the more remote agricultural valleys has
been somewhat retarded by the hostility of the Indians, who have, in
numerous instances, butchered whole families going into these locali-
ties to settle at an early day. Efforts are now being made for the estab-
lishment of an Indian reservation in this county, a measure that would
probably benefit all parties, both the whites and the Indians. Scat-
tered over about one thousand square miles of territory, comprised
within the limits of Tehama, Shasta, Siskiyou and Lassen counties, are
the following tribes of Indians : the Pitt river, Shasta, Hat creek,
Pushus, Pah-Utahs, Antelopes, Nosers, Sacramentos, Tonatons and
McClouds, embracing over two thousand souls in all, for whom no pro-
vision has hitherto been made by the Indian Department of the Gov-
ernment. The valleys and fisheries from which they formerly procured
the most of their subsistence having been occupied entirely by the
whites, renders it difficult for these people to longer sustain themselves
upon the natural products of the earth, hence they are forced, in some
cases, to depredate upon the whites, or suffer from the pangs of hun-
ger. If they steal the property, or kill the stock of the settlers, the
latter retaliate by shooting the Indians, who, in return, murder the
whites whenever opportunity offers for them to do so with safety, and
thus, a constant warfare is kept up to the great injury of both races.
The plan of gathering these savages upon reservations, where, with
good management, it is found they can be rendered self-sustaining,
contributes not only to their comfort and safety, but also secures the
whites against their further assaults and depredations.
With so many fertile valleys, and a climate so genial, the agricultu-
ral resources of Shasta, as will readily be supposed, are by no means
inconsiderable. The number of acres of land enclosed, in this county,
was estimated, in 1867, to be about 65,000, of which 35,000 were under
cultivation ; 10,000 acres, planted to wheat, yielded 150,000 bushels;
7,000 acres, planted to barley, yielded 190,000 bushels ; and 2,000
acres, planted to oats, yielded 50,000 bushels. Besides these cereals,
TnflmTi com, rye and buckwheat are grown to some extent, as well as
broom-corn and tobacco, with nearly every variety of fruits, vegetables
and berries — ^much stock is also kept in the couniy, and considerable
quantities of butter and cheese made every year. In 1866 Shasta con-
tained one thousand nine hundred and forty-two mules, ranking next
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220 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
4» Tolo— the first county in this respect in the State. The number of
•sheep and hogs has multiplied rapidly during the past few years, ren-
dering W00I9 pork and bacon important items in the products of the
county. Besides several othier small manufactories, Shasta counts A
tannery and a pottery among her industrial establishments. There are
two grist mills in the county, both driven by water; they have a daily
capacity to make one hundred barrels of flour each — ^the cost of their
joint construction being $22,000. Shasta contains twelve saw nulls,
capable of cutting from one thousand to six thousand feet of lumber,
daily; all but two of these mills are propelled by water, the cost of each
ranging from $2,000 to $12,000.
This county contained at one time a great, extent of rich placer
mines, and although the most of these are now pretty well worked out,
there are still fair diggings in a number of localities, with a great many
promising lodes of auriferous quartz. In the Pittsburg district, on
McCloud's river, in the northern part of the county, a great number of
veins were located in 1863, on the supposition that they contained val-
uable deposits of copper ore, much of this metal being found in the
croppings. Subsequent explorations having sliown the presence also
of gold and silver, the latter predominating in value, a large popular
tion was drawn into the district, and much work done, some of these
lodes having since turned out to be valuable. Veins of similar char-
acter have also been found on Cow creek and elsewhere in the county,
indicating that vein mining, both for gold and silver, will yet become
an active and profitable pursuit therein. Already there are twelve
quartz mills running in the couniy, on rock yielding an average of over
tweniy dollars per ton by working process. There are also a good
many arastras driven by horse power, and numbers of Mexicans make
fair wages, crushing quartz with hand mortars, their earnings ranging
from six to twenty dollars per day. Hydraulic washings are in success-
ful operation at two or three points in the couniy, and, as water is
abundant, this mode of working is likely soon to be greatly extended.
One half of the quartz mills are driven by steam and the other half by
water ; they carry from four to eight stamps each, and cost, in the
aggregate, about $100,000. Sixteen water ditches, besides distributing
branches, have been built in the county. These works vary from two
to fifiy-three miles in length, and in cost from $5,000 to $140,000 —
the total sum expended in their construction being about $400,000.
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COUimES OF CALIFOBNLL 221
LASSEN COUNTY.
This county, erected in 1864 from the eastern ports of Plumas and
Shasta counties, is named after Peter Lassen, an early explorer of the
surrounding regions, and a pioneer settler in this part of California.
It is bounded on the north by Siskiyou county, on the east by the State
of Nevada^ on the south by Sierra and Plumas, and on the west by Plu-
mas and Shasta counties. For a long time, nearly the whole of this
territory, together with the eastern part of Siskiyou county, was suc-
cessively claimed, first by Utah, then by Nevada Territory, and finally
by the State of Nevada^ each of which, in turn, exercised jurisdiction
over it until the year 1862, when the eastern boundary of California
having been located to the east of it by a joint survey on the part of
the two States, prevented a collision, already precipitated, from pro-
ceeding to extremities between the authorities of Plxunas and Boop
counties.
Lassen county embraces within its limits a large area, about equally
divided between rugged mountains, alkali flats and arid sage plains,
the only considerable body of good land in it being that lying along
and adjacent to Susan river, generally denominated Honey lake valley,
with a narrow strip in Long valley, further south. The mountains con-
sist of the Sierra Nevada, which, trending northwest, strike across its
southwestern border, forming a high barrier between this and Plumas
county, and numerous straggling groups lying further north and east,
the former well timbered with pine, spruce and fir, the latter contain-
ing no trees except a few scattered groves of scrubby pitch pine, called
in the Spanish, '^pinon**, and a species of dwarf juniper. This pinon,
a low, bushy tree, about one foot in diameter at the butt, and twenty-
five feet high, being of a firm fibre, and full of resinous matter, makes
a valuable fuel, though not worth much for other purposes. The juni-
per, or, as it is more commonly called, the cedar, being still smaller
than the pine, and at the same time light and porous, is of little value,
whether for fuel or lumber.
This county, as well as the eastern part of Siskiyou, all of Alpine,
Mono and Inyo counties, lying upon or being wholly to the east of the
Sierra Nevada mountains, and within the rim of the Great Utah Basin,
partakes largely of the features that characterize that elevated and gen-
erally barren plateau, being marked by great aridity, vast stretches of
alkali flats and sandy plains, clusters of desolate and broken hills,
ranges of mountains alternating with narrow valleys, and a remark-
able scarcity of animal and vegetable life. The only streams of any
^
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222 THE K^TUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBMLL
size consist of a branch of Pitt river, in the northern part of the county;
of Pine creeky ronning into Eagle lake; and of Susan river, heading in
the Sierra^ and running easterly into Honey lake^ together with a stream
flowing through Long valley from the south, and emptying into the same
receptacle. Besides these, there are a number of small creeks running
down from the mountains into Honey lake valley, affording ample
means for irrigating the rich lands lying along its western border, close
under the Sierra^ as well as furnishing an extensive water power, their
descent being very rapid. The most of these creeks sink after flowing
a short distance out upon the plain, though one or two make their way
across it, emptying into Susan river.
There are two lakes in this county — ^Eagle lake, lying near its cen-
ter, and Honey lake, in its southern part. The former, about twelve
miles long and eight wide, is of very irregular outline, and no great
depth ; the latter is of almost equally irregular shape, and still more
shallow, having, in fact, within the past few years, nearly dried up.
It receives its name from the quantities of honey-dew found on the
grass and shubbery in the vicinity. This substance is deposited by
the honey-dew aphis, a species of bee sometimes found in dry and bar-
ren countries. It is a sweetish, viscid liquid, resembling honey, and
though never used by the whites, is gathered by the Indians, who,
boiling the grass and twigs on which it is found, make a sort of mo-
lasses, of which they are fond.
Long valley, extending for more than forty miles through the south-
em part of the county, is a fine stock region, and, though but sparsely
settled, there are usually several thousand head of cattle grazing in it —
stock, as a general thing, doing well here, as is the case also in Honey
lake valley throughout the winter, feeding upon the wild grasses, sage,
grease-wood and other herbage found growing *in the valley and upon
the adjacent hills. At long intervals, however, snow falls in these val-
leys to the depth of twenty or thirty inches, causing much distress
among the stock running at large — sometimes even destroying a portion
of it Usually the snow does not fall in the valleys to a depth of more
than six or eight inches, and is of temporary duration; on the Sien*a
it always falls to a depth of many feet, and sometimes lies for several
months on the interior ranges.
Honey lake valley, first settled in 1857, contains about twenty thou-
sand acres of fine farming and meadow lands, nearly the whole of which
is enclosed, and at least one fifth of it under cultivation. About one
thousand acres of wheat, one thousand five hundred of barley, and two
hundred of oats were sown in 1867, which yielded respectively at the
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COUNTIES OP CAUFOENLL 223
rate of twenty-five, thirty and thirty-two bushels to the acre. Vege-
tables of varions kinds and superior qnaliiy are raised here, and the
hardier fruits are also found to grow and mature without difficulty,
apples of lai^ size and fine flavor having been grown for several years
posi Irrigation, for which there are the best of facilities, is, however^
found necessary for perfecting the crops, both of vegetables and grain.
The considerable elevation of this entire regibn, everywhere over four
thousand feet above sea-level, rendering the seasons short, a resort to
this aid becomes necessary to hasten the growth of vegetation. Honey
lake valley has an altitude of four thousand two hundred feet, and Sum-
mit lake, five thousand eight hundred feet, while many of the moun-
tains within the limits of the county reach a height of more than seven
thousand feci They are generally dry and sterile, containing nothing
but a scanty growth of bunch grass, and a few stunted pines and juni-
per trees. like the rest of the country, they are nearly destitute of
game, the only thing found to reward the labors of the hunter being
hare, sage-hen, and an occasional deer.
Hot springs occur at several points in the county, the most note-
worthy of which consists of a group situated on the margin of Honey
lake. One of these springs boils furiously, the hot water leaping sev-
eral feet high. It is about twelve feet square, and so deep that its
bottom has never been reached by sounding. The other springs in this
group are not so hot, some of them only tepid. They are all more or
less impregnated with mineral substances — the waters of one being
chalybeate, of another, saline, alkaline or sulphurous.
The population of Lassen amounts to about two thousand, six hun-
dred of whom are residents of Susanville, the county seat The value
of the real and personal property in the county is estimated at $800,000.
It contains seven saw mills, all but one driven by water, erected at an
aggregate cost of $60,000, and having a daily capacity to cut from two
tliousand to fourteen thousand feet of lumber each ; two grist mills,
both run by water, cost $12,000, and together capable of making one
hundred barrels of flour daily. The only water ditches in this couniy
are such as have been built for purposes of irrigation ; the largest of
the number, the Willow creek ditch, is eight miles long, and cost
$12,000.
The mineral wealth of the region embrakjed within and lying adja-
cent to Lassen county was, from an early.^ay, supposed to be great,
much prospecting for silver having been carried on there before the dis-
covery of the Washoe mines. The extent to which this idea had ob-
tained may be inferred from the fact ^t it was while on an expedition in
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224 THE NATURAL UTEALTH OF QALIFOBNIA.
search of silver mines supposed to exist to the northeast of Black Bock
that the brave old pioneer, Peter Lassen, was killed by the Indians^ in
the spring of 1859. None of the explorations prosecuted in that quarter
appear, however, to have resulted in any discoveries of value until the
Black Bock mines, lying some fifty miles northeast of Honey lake, were
found, about two years ago. Two quartz mills have since been erected
at that place both of which have been running on the silver ores
obtained from the mines with varying success. That the ores are rich,
and very abundant, seems pretty well established, though they are doubt-
less of a very obstinate and intractable character. The district is but
poorly supplied with wood and water, adding further to the difficulties
in the way of a successful and economical treatment of the ores, which,
should they really prove what is claimed for them, will have to be trans-
ported to points where there are better facilities for their reduction
than exist at these mines, before they can be worked on an extensive
scale. The Central Pacific Bailroad, when built up the Humboldt,
will run within less than a hundred miles of Black Bock, whereby much
cheaper transportation of the ores being insured than is now practi-
cable, there is a prospect that these mines will be largely and profit-
ably worked in the course of a year or two more.
A good many claims were located, and considerable work done, on
silver bearing lodes situated in the Sierra, west of Honey lake valley, as
early as 1859, but as no extensive crushings have ever been made of the
ores, nor enough work performed to prove the mines, their value remains
imdetermined — ^nothing having been done upon them since that early
period. It is not known that any vein mines, or placers of importance,
exist elsewhere in the county, though a good deal of prospecting for
deposits of the precious metals has at different times been done.
MOUNTAIN OOUNTIESL
PLUMAS COUNTY.
Plumas couniy, so designated from the Bio de las Plumas, the Span-
ish name of Feather river, which stream, and its affluents, ramify it
in every direction, is bounded on the north by Shasta and Lassen coun-
ties, on the east by Lassen, on the south by Sierra and Yuba counties,
and on the west by Butte and Tehama counties. Its greatest longitu-
dinal axis extends southeast and northwest a distance of eighty-five
miles, its transverse axis being about forty-five miles in length, giving
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OOTTNTEES OP CAUFOBNIA. 225
to tiie oountyan area of about two thousand square miles. Being
deeply furrowed by the Feather river and its numerous tributaries,
nearly the whole of the central and southwestern part of the couniy is
divided into narrow cc^ons separated by high ridges, the northeastern
portions rising into the lofty Sierra which borders it in that direction.
These canons vary in depth from five hundred to three thousand feet —
the gorge cut by the middle fork of Feather river, which, rising east of
the main Sierra^ has worn a passage through that range, being one of
the deepest and wildest in the State. The Middle Yuba has also
eroded for itself an exceedingly deep channel — ^that stream, at Nelson's
Point, being nearly four thousand feet below the top of Pilot peak, an
isolated mountain in the neighborhood. This peak, situated in the
southern part of the county, and which reaches an altitude of over six
thousand feet, is of volcanic origin, its northern slope being walled
with columnar basalt, and its summit capped with a bed of lava six
hundred and fiffy feet thick. The view from its top is extensive and
grand. Spanish peak, an isolated knob of similar origin, lies about
twenty miles to the northwest, there being several other mountain
peaks of lesser elevation in different parts of the couniy.
The surface of Plumas is covered everywhere with a heavy growth
of coniferous forests, consisting of sugar and yellow pine, red spruce, -
tiie white or balsam fir, cedar, etc., there being scarcely a better tim-
bered region along the slope of the Sierra. These forests are more-
open and scattered in the western part of the couniy, growing more
dense as the mountain is ascended, even to its very summit. The
county contains no lakes, or even considerable ponds of water, though
hot and mineral springs are met with in several localities. The low
altitude of Beckworth's pass, lying in the southeastern part of the
county, has encouraged the citizens of Plumas to take preliminary
steps towards forming a company for the construction of a railroad
through it. This road is to be carried up the middle fork of Feather
river, and thence over the Sierra^ through this pass, a route on which
but little snow will be encountered in the winter, though somewhat cir-
cuitous and leading through a broken and mountainous country.
Notwithstanding its great elevation and the extremely rugged sur-
face of the country, Plumae couniy contains many fertile, well sheltered
valleys and mountain meadows, admirably suited for agricultural and
grazing purposes. The principal of these localities are American,
Indian and Humbug valleys. Mountain Meadow and Big Meadow, Gen-
esee, Long, Mohawk, Beckworth, Sierra, Bed Clover and Bound val-
leys, nearly all lying in the northern and eastern part of the coxmiy and
15
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226 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIPOBNIA.
on the upper tributaries of the Feather river. These valleys and mea-
dows embrace in the aggregate nearly two hundred and fifty thousand
acres of good land, and although the more tender fruits and vegetables
are sometimes cut off by unseasonable frosts, good crops of the hardier
kinds are generally secured, while the cereals yield with certainty and
abundance. Most of the valleys are covered with a luxuriant growth
of natural grasses, the adjacent mountains in some places also afford-
ing much pasturage. For hay, timothy grass is cultivated, few depend-
ing on the wild varieties for this article. In some instances irrigation
is resorted to for securing a crop, though not generally. As a usual
thing but little snow falls in these valleys, though it reaches a great
depth every winter on the mountains. Cattle are the better for being
housed and fed for a few weeks in the winter, though some seasons they
scarcely require it. It is estimated that there are now over one hun«
dred thousand acres of land under fence in this county, more than one
half of which is planted to grain and vegetables. The principal cereals
raised are wheat and oats, more than twenty thousand bushels of the
former and one hundred thousand of the latter having been produced
in 1867, a still larger yield being counted upon for the following year.
The grain grown here is remarkably plump and heavy, the oats weigh-
ing forty and the wheat over sixty pounds to the busheL Small quan-
tities of rye, buckwheat, Indian com and barley are also successfully
cultivated — only enough of the latter, however, being sown for brewing
purposes. A considerable amount of stock is kept in. the county, over
two thousand cows — enough butter and cheese being made for local con-
sumption. Dairymen and stockgrowers in the lower counties are in the
habit of driving their herds into the meadows that exist in the upper
Sierra^ and pasturing them there during the summer, returning them
to the lower valleys when winter comes on. There are but few swine
and no sheep, except such as are kept for the shambles, raised in the
county.
Owing to the abrupt character of the country, t^lumas has hereto-
fore been but illy supplied with wagon roads. A project recently set
on foot is now being vigorously prosecuted for constructing a first-class
toll road from Oroville to Quincy, the county seat, with branches to
Indian and to American valley. The entire length of this road will be
one huiidred and thirty miles, and it is to be built with the low gradient,
for a mountain district, of four inches to the rod. Being confined
mostly to the galley of Feather river, it lies below the deep snow line,
securing it against serious impediment from the winter snows. The
cost of this wprk is estimated at nearly three hundred thousand dollars,
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OOUKTIES OP CALTPORNLL 227
towards which the county contribates eighty thousand dollars. When
completed, it is expected that this improToment will, by cheapening
transportation and travel, rapidly increase the population of the county
and greatly promote the development of its mineral wealth, which, as
regards both the precious and useful metals, is undoubtedly great.
From an early day, placer mining, which is still extensively and
profitably carried on, has been a lucrative pursuit in this county. For
many years immense quantities of gold were taken out on the bars of
Feather river and its tributaries, some of which continue to yield well,
though the most of the dust now gathered comes from the hydraulic
and tunnel claims, of which there are a large number being worked with
good average, and, occasionally, with very large results. In its quartz
veins Plumas has also a wide and prolific field of wealth, the average
yield of these lodes, so far as tested, having been higher than in almost
any other part of the State. The leading quartz districts, so far as
active developments and the erection of mills are concerned, consist of
Indian, Mohawk, and Qenesee valleys — Greenville, Dixie, and Jamison
creek. The Whitney lode, in Indian valley, is twenty feet wide, the
vein matter, from wall to wall, composed of pay ore — ^not a pound being
rejected — that yields by ordinary process fourteen dollars to the ton,
besides a considerable percentage of rich sulphurets, saved for future
treatment The Crescent mine, in the same locality, worked since 1862,
embraces a system of four ledges, which, by extensive explorations are
shown to carry large quantities of ore — the results of five years' work-
ings having ranged from fifteen to forty dollars per ton. The average
yield for the year ending with June, 1867, was sixteen dollars per ton,
the net earnings of the mine having been fifty thousand dollars during
that year. The dividends to stockholders since the opening of the mine
have been over one hundred thousand dollars, besides earnings applied
to defiray current expenses and the erection of two first-class mills, car-
rying an aggregate of fifty-six stamps. The lode of the Indian Valley
Mining Company, like that last mentioned, has been worked steadily
and profitably for a series of years ; and although other and even more
notable examples of success might be cited, the foregoing will serve to
illustrate the general character of the veins and grades of ore found in
this county, which offers inducements second to no other in the State
for the investment of capital in this branch of mining. There are now
twenty-six quartz mills in this county, carrying a total of three hundred
stamps, and erected at an aggregate expense of $400,000, the individual
cost ranging from 13,000 to $100,000, according to location and capa-
city, the earliest built being more expensive, owing to higher prices of
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228 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIL
labor and material^ than those of recent date. There are one hnndred
and forty miles of water ditches in the county, constructed at a cost of
not less than $350,000, the Spanish Creek ditch, alone, having cost
^ $150,000. There are twenty saw mills and two grist mills^ the most of
them of moderate capaciiy.
Besides its placers and veins of gold bearing quartz, Plumas con-
tains many lodes rich in cupriferous ores, several of which had been
extensively opened and were being worked with fair prospects of suc-
cess, when the extreme depreciation of copper ores checked further pro-
ceedings, though there is no doubt but with an improved market for
this metal these lodes will be again worked more largely than ever
before, and with remunerative results, as the ores are abundant, easily
obtained, and many of them of an unusually high grade. Marble of
fine quality, being beautifully variegated, and susceptible of high
polish, abounds on the middle fork of Feather river, and a vein of
coal has been found in Indian valley, the croppings of which have
proved to be of a qualiiy sufficiently good at least for domestic uses
and the blacksmith's forge. The population of this couniy, estimated
in 1866 at three thousand six hundred and seventy, on the basis that the
school children under fifteen years of age constitute thirty per ceni of
the inhabitants^ is now believed to be at least four thousand.
8IEBBA 00UNT7.
This county, which derives its name from the Sierra Nevada moun-
tains that cross its eastern border, is bounded as follows : Plumas
county on the north, the State of Nevada on the east, the county of
Nevadf^ on the south, and the counties of Yuba and Plumas on the west
The description already given of Pliunas county will, in nearly all that
relates to soil, climate, topography, timber, and other natural produc-
tions, apply equally well to Sierra. There are, however, in the latter,
a number of small lakes, with a scattering of scrubby oaks on the
lower foothills, while the mountains here are scarcely so high, or the
canons so deep, as in Plumas.
The principal streams flowing through Sierra consist of the north
and middle forks of the Yuba, the former running centrally through,
and the latter forming the southern boundary of the county. In length,
Sierra extends about fifty miles, east and west, by twenty miles, north
and south — ^its area being not quite half that of Plumas — ^it also con-
taining much less agricultural land than the latter. Situated on top of
the Sierra Nevada mountains, where this range spreads out into broad
flats and basin-like depressions, are a number of ponds and small lakes,
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COUNTIES OF GALIFOBKIA. 229
in one of which, caUed Gold lake, about fonr miles long and two miles
wide, the middle fork of Feather river has its main source, another
branch of this stream heading in a smaUer lake located in Sierra val-
ley, eighteen miles further easi The most of these lakes are of circu*
lar form, and from half a mile to a mile long, many being much smaller
— ^not more than eight or ten rods over. Some of them are very deep,
a hundred foot line having failed to reach the bottom of Gold lake.
This locality is worthy of notice as being the spots visited by the first
of those expeditions fitted out in California to search for supposed rich,
but, as experience has shown, imaginary deposits of gold. This adven-
ture dates back as early as the summer of 1849, though generally repre-
sented as occurring one year later. A similar movement did, indeed,
transpire in 1850, based, no doubt, upon the rumors that gave rise to
the original expedition, which, in reality, took place at the time above
stated.
There are several isolated peaks and buttes in this county, the most
conspicuous of which are l^tble mountain, over six thousand five hun-
dred feet high, and Saddle mountain, lying a few miles south of i1^
and not quite so high, and the Sierra Buttes, thirteen miles east of
Downieville, the latter eight thousand three hundred feet high. Like
Plumas, the whole of this couniy has a considerable altitude, scarcely
any of it being less than three thousand feet above the level of the sea.
The bed of the North Yuba> where crossed by the west line of the
county, and about the lowest point in it, is two thousand one hundred
and sixty-six feet high, while many of the mining camps in the couniy
have an altitude of more than five thousand feet. Nearly the whole
county is underlaid by auriferous slates, generally covered by volcanic
accumulations, the former being denuded by the numerous deep
ravines that furrow the country in every direction. Along the crest of
the Sierra this slate is capped by high volcanic ** buttes," imparting
to the range a sharply serrated contour. The most of the lava found
in this region is basaltic, though there are in places large quantities of
breccia and conglomerate. The slates, with occasional serpentine, are
to be seen only in the valleys and canons where the superimposed vol-
canic mass has been worn away by the action of the water.
While considerable quantities of fruit and vegetables are raised,
there is but little stock kept, and only a limited amount of grain grown
in this county, the arable and grazing land being mostly confined to a
few small valleys and mountain flats, the latter too elevated to admit of
the successful culture of the more tender plants and fruits, though
most kinds of grain and vegetables are raised without trouble. The
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230 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNLU
land enclosed amounts to twenty-five thousand acres — one third, per^
haps, under cultivation — ^barley, of which about twenty-five thousand
bushels are raised annually, being the principal cereal planted. Large
quantities of potatoes, and other esculent roots of superior quality are
grown, while the peach, vine and apricot flourish in many of the deep
and warmer valleys.
The climate here is rigorous in the winter, the cold being severe
and the snow falling to a great depth and lying for several months on
the higher ridges and mountains, though generally there is but little in
the lower valleys. As is the case in all the inhabited mountain districts
in this part of the State, the principal mode of traveling at this season
is on snow«hoes — what is known as the '^Norwegian skate,** being em*
ployed for the purpose. This skate, or shoe, consists of a strip of pine
board four inches wide and from eight to twelve feet long, slightly
turned up forward, which being attached to the feet, the traveler, fur-
nished with a pole to steady and guide him, makes his way over the
snow, when soft, with a speed and facility to the novice quite surprising.
The velocity with which a person experienced in the use of these shoes
will descend a mountain side deeply covered with snow is, to one never
having witnessed the performance, incredible. Nearly all classes
residing in the more Alpine regions of the State practice with these
skates, without which travel would be nearly impracticable, since it
becomes almost impossible to break roads where the aggregate snow-
fall amounts to forty or fifty feet in a single winter — ^it lying often at
one time to depths varying from ten to fifteen feet Snow-shoe racing
constitutes a popular and exhilerating sport among the inhabitants of
these elevated districts, even the women frequently becoming competi*
tors in these trials of speed and skilL
Downieville, the county seat of Sierra, contains one thousand five
hundred inhabitants — ^the population of the entire county being seven
thousand. Howland Flat, a populous mining neighborhood in the
northwestern part of the county, numbers one thousand inhabitants,
and Sierra valley, a broad flat situated high up in the mountains, about
as many more, a large proportion of whom are women and children —
the inhabitants of this locality being engaged chiefly in stock raising
and farming. "With the exception of a group of thermals strongly im-
pregnated with sulphur, located one and a half miles east of Sierraville,
tiiere are no hot or mineral springs in this county.
In the matter of mineral resources. Sierra may, for its size, justly
claim to be the leading county in California, both as regards placer and
vein mining. The diggings here, from the first extensive and prolific,
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOfiNIA. 231
still continne among the most profitable and largely productive in the
State ; several of the quartz claims, such as the Sierra Buttes, Inde-
pendence. Keystone, Primrose, Qold Blufl^ and Gold Valley mines,
having been steadily worked for many years, with highly remunerative '
results. Ranking among the best of these properties is the lode of the
Brush Greek Quartz Mining Company, located three miles west of
Forest City, and which, though partially explored as early as 1867, was
not thoroughly opened and rendered largely productive until a recent
date. Across this county, pursuing a generally north and south direc-
tion, run several strongly marked branches of the far-famed ancient river
channels, which, though scarcely more than scratched, have already
yielded millions of dollars, and which, in their rich and wide-spread
deposits insure profitable mining for centuries to come. On the most
eastern of these channels, which has as yet been but little opened, are
situated the very prosperous mining camps of Nebraska and American
City ; on that lying next west, somewhat more extensively worked, are
Forest City, Alleghany, Wet Ravine, Chips' Flap, Centerville, and
Minnesota; while on the three remaining channels, taking them in their
order as we proceed west, we have first, Deadwood, Sqbastopol, Excel-
sior, Monte Cristo, Rock Creek, and City of Six, the deposits up to
this point being reached and operated by means of shafts and tunnels,
while those further west are mostly worked by hydraulic washing. On
the next channel are located Table Mountain, Poker Flat, Washoe,
Morristown and Eureka ; on the next, beginning as before, on the
north, are Whisky Diggings, Howland Flat, St. Louis and Port Wine ;
the points on the most westerly channel, where heavy work has been
done, being Hepsydam, Gibsonville, Laporte and Poverty Hill, the old
river beds below the points mentioned being less explored, though
probably equally rich with those already opened and for so many years
worked with success. Hydraidic, as well as tunnel mining, is prose-
cuted in this couniy on a very extensive scale, many of these claims
being among the largest and best paying in the State. The celebrated
"Blue Lead," in so far as it may be a different gold bearing channel
from that of these ancient rivers, finds its most marked development in
this county, having been a source of immense wealth ever since it was
first laid open.
Many silver and copper bearing lodes have been found in the cen-
tral and eastern parts of the county, but none of them having yet been
proved by deep exploration, it would be premature to pronounce upon
their value, though both class of ores have yielded satisfactory and
often very large returns, both by assay and working tests.
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232 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
Sierra contains about fortj quartz mills and thirty saw mills^ manj
of the former being large and costly establishments, the earnings of
which have been steady and liberal The extent of water ditching in
this couniy is very considerable, the length of this work being one
hundred and foriy miles, constructed at an aggregate cost of about
$400,000.
ITEVADA COUNTY.
This county, which derives its name from the Sierra Nevada moun-
tains that run across its eastern extremiiy, was erected from a part of
Yuba county in 1851. It is bounded on the north by Tuba and Sierra
counties, on the east by the State of Nevada, on the south by Placer,
and on the west by Yuba county. In form it is long and narrow,
extending sixty-five miles east and west, and fifteen north and south,
giving it a superficial area of about one thousand one hundred square
miles. "With the exception of the eastern portion, covered by the great
snowy range, the surface of the country is much less rugged and broken
than that of Sierra and Plumas lying to the north; the western section,
occupied by the lower foot-hills, and finally sinking into the broad
plains of the Sacramento, being comparatively leveL The middle fork
of the Tuba river forms about two thirds of its northern boundary,
separating it from Sierra county, the south fork of that stream running
centrally through it. Without partaking of the striking features that
mark the country, further north the scenery in the upper part of the
country is varied and often wild and majestic; while the central and
lower portions are pleasantly diversified by deep ravines, knolls and
dales — trolling prairies, wooded mountains and long sweeps of gently
sloping hills. Here the country is covered with a mixed growth of oak
and pine; the trees, which generally attain but a moderate size, being
gathered in clumps or scattered sparsely over it. Interspersed through
the timber, or growing in the forest glades, are many varieties of beau-
tiful flowering shrubs, the most picturesque and fragrant of these
being the buckeye, the chamiza, the wild lilac and the manzanita, that
everywhere adorn the landscape and fill the air with perfume during
the spring and early summer. The open spaces among the foot-hills,
and more especially the prairies that skirt them, bloom in spring time
with fields of wild flowers of every form and hue — all exceedingly
brilliant and graceful, tbough generally deficient in odor. Sometimes
a single variety will occupy several acres, to be followed by another
patch equally extensive, covered by a different kind. It would be vain
to seek in the most carefully cultivated gardens, where the choicest
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COUNTIES OP CAUFOMSIA. 233
floral treasures of the world have been gathered, for anything more
exquisitely shaped or tinted than can be found growing wild and
uncared for in these immense parterres. The soil on the uplands is a
ferruginous loam, deep, warm and generous; that of the bottoms and
basin-like flats, a dark vegetable alluvium, having great strength and
body, and being exceedingly well adapted for the culture of fruits,
grains, and vegetables ; while the vine thrives better on the red, hill
soil, growing luxuriantly and yielding with an abundance, to the very
tops of the mountains. Certain of the fruits, such as the peach, quince
and apricot also prefer the lighter and drier soil of the uplands, which,
from the decomposition of slates and volcanic material intermixed with
iron and vegetable mould, is by no means lacking in the elements of
fruitfulness and strength. Wild grasses of several varieties grow sparse-
ly nearly everywhere throughout this lower country, affording a good
deal of nutritious pasturage. The summer climate here is hot during
the day, though the nights are generally cool. The spring and autumn
seasons, exempt from extremes, are always delightful, which is also the
case in the greater portion of the winter, but little snow ever falling
and the cold never being excessive; stock, except work cattle, are rarely
ever housed, nor do they require much fodder unless the winter is
uncommonly severe. Indeed, a more pleasant rural region, or a more
desirable abode for man than is furnished by these foot-hills, is nowhere
to be found. And, since what has been said concerning the portion of
them lying in Nevada, will apply equally well to the entire range
stretching south more than two hundred miles through the remaining
mining counties, no further description thereof will be required when
we come to speak of the latter.
That the climate of this county, though mild in the lower regions,
is, in different parts widely unlike, especially in the winter, may be
inferred from the fact that some sections of it are more than eight
thousand feet high, while others are elevated but a few feet above the
level of the sea. In the latter, snow, as has been stated, never falls to
any great depth and soon disappears ; while on the mountains it accu-
mulates to depths varying from ten to thirty feet, according to altitude
and exposure, some of the higher peaks retaining it on their northern
slopes nearly all the year around.
There are several small lakes in the upper part of the county, of
which Donner, situated east of the main crest of the Sierra, is the
largest and most attractive ; its great beauiy, and the wild scenery
around it, promising to render it one of the most popular resorts in
the Sierra.
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234 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
Wliile mining is the chief industry and source of wealth in this
county, many of the inhabitants depend, at least in part, upon the pro-
ducts of the soil for a subsistance ; considerable quantities of grain
being raised, and much attention paid to horticiilture, viniculture and
fruit growing. Fruits and vegetables of excellent quality are raised in
nearly all parts of the county, while the number of vines in 1867
exceeded three hundred thousand. About seventy thousand acres of
land were enclosed that year, of which nearly one half were under ciilti-
vation, producing wheats barley and oats in nearly equal proportions.
The number of draft animals kept is large, many being required for
hauling ore from the mines to the mills and supplying the latter with
fuel There is also a heavy business done here in lumbering, calling
for the services of many teams in hauling logs and transporting the
product of the mills to market. About two thousand cows are kept in
the county, there being many small dairies for supplying the local
demand for butter, milk and cheese. Only a sufficiency of sheep and
swine are raised for the shambles, the annual product of wool amount-
ing to but a few thousand pounds. Besides twenty saw mills^ many of
them costly and of large capacity, there is an extensive grist mill, three
tanneries, two foxmdries, and several other small manufacturing estab-
lishments in the county.
The principal towns in this coxmty are Nevada City, the coxmty seat,
and Grass Valley lying four miles further southwest. The former has
a population of about three thousand five hundred, and the latter of
six thousand. They are both mining centers of note. Grass Yalley
being famed for the large number of rich quartz veins in the vicinity,
and the success with which many of them have long been worked.
Though often desolated by fires, and suffering severely from those sud-
den migrations which have so frequently diminished the populations of
our interior towns and mining camps, they have continued to steadily
advance and maintain their position as prosperous and growing places;
the superior character of the mines in the neighborhood generally caus-
ing, sooner or later, a return of nearly all, who, under the impulse of
temporary excitements had hastened away to other and often distant
localities. And such is now the well ascertained extent and value of
the mines adjacent to those towns that their future growth and perma-
nence seem well assured. They each contain numerous well constructed
halls, churches, school houses, and other public edifices; are supplied
with gas and water works, have an efficient fire department^ and a well
organized local government^ with various social, literary and charitable
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COUNTIES OF CALIFORNIA. 235
institutions reflecting credit on the benevolence, enterprise and enlight-
enment of the inhabitants.
Besides these two leading places, there are man j other thrifty and
growing towns in the county, the more prominent of which are the fol-
lowing : San Juan, situated ten miles north of Nevada^ is the principal
Tillage in a series of mining camps and hamlets scattered at intervals of
two or three miles along the ridge that slopes north to the middle Yuba.
The name was first given to a hill at this point in which rich diggings
were developed as early as 1863. The surface placers in the vicinity
have been very prolific, and some of the most remunerative tunnel and
hydraulic claims in the county are still being worked in the neighbor-
hood. The town now contains about one thousand inhabitants, and is
not only a prosperous and active, but also a cheerful and handsome
place, much care having been bestowed by the inhabitants upon the
culture of vines, fruit trees and flowers^ every residence, almost, being
adorned with many varieties of the latter, and the environs of the town
being planted with vineyards, gardens and orchards. The facilities
afforded for irrigation by the numerous water ditches have done much
to promote improvements of this kind — the inhabitants having early
availed themselves of this aid for planting and adorning their grounds.
North San Juan, as this village is generally termed, to distinguish it
from places bearing the same name elsewhere in the State, has a good
local government and thoroughly organized fire department, who oper-
ate with hose attached to the hydrants of the water works belonging to
the town. There are a number of schools and churches, and several
benevolent orders in San Juan, which is also the headquarters of some
half dozen stage lines, radiating to surrounding localities, and the cen-
ter of a large local trade. Mining, throughout this district, is prose-
cuted on a scale of great magnitude. The annual yield of gold of
Bridgeport township, in which San Juan is situated, for the past ten
years has exceeded $1,300,000. Sebastopol, a hamlet one mile east of
San Juan, is composed of the residences of those owning the American
and Gold Bluff mines, on Junction Bluff and Manzanita Hills ; Sweet-
land, a short distance south, being another village, containing, with its
environs, a population of two or three hundred. Birchville, four miles
east of San Juan, is another pleasant little town embowered amidst
trees and beautiful with vines and flowers. The inhabitants are prin-
cipally engaged in mining — ^large quantities of gold having, for many
years, been gathered in the district, through a system of bed-rock tun-
nelling. Five companies, operating here, took out, in the year 1866,
an aggregate of $581,000, of which $327,500 were net proceeds. Not
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236 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
one half the rich ground here has yet been exhausted. French Corral,
with a population of about four hundred, is another flourishing mining
town lying a few miles below San Juan, on the Middle Tuba. Tunnel
and hjdraiilic mining has been carried on extensiyelj and profitably
here for more than twelve years, there being, besides the hill diggings
worked by hydraulics, a broad stratum of blue cement underlying the
gravel, and found to be very rich in gold. Cherokee, though a much
larger place than French Corral, is surrounded by a similar character
of mines. The auriferous flat near the town, worked out in the early
day, proved extremely rich.
Bough and Beady, Little York, You Bet, Bed Dog, and Eureka^
rank among the active and progressive mining towns of this county,
the former having been among the very earliest settled places in it. In
the spring of 1851 Bough and Beady was a village more than twice the
size of Grass Yalley, the surface claims near by, covering a broad scope,
having paid largely. There is still a good deal of mining being prose-
cuted in the vicinity; and the town, though not keeping pace with some
of its neighbors, contains in its orchards, vineyards, and cultivated
gardens, many evidences of thrift and comfort Little York, lying on
the ridge between Steep Hollow and Bear river, being almost hidden
from sight by fruit and shade trees, presents a very attractive appear-
ance. The early diggings here were good, and the lai^e bodies of
cement on which several mills are now running, with the high banks of
auriferous earth, give assurance that mining will be largely and profit-
ably carried on here for many years to come. For a California moun-
tain town, Little York has been singularly fortunate in an entire
exemption from fire — ^no sweeping conflagration ever having occurred
to lay it in ruins. Bed Dog, lying a little to the north, has, on the
contrary, been a severe sufferer in this respect^ having been several
times completely devastated by fire. The place and vicinity contains
about three hundred inhabitants. There are four mills within a short
distance of the town, crushing the blue cement that is here found in a
heavy body — there being several others, at no great distance ofl^ also
running on this material. The town of You Bet, lying midway be-
tween Little York and Bed Dog, contains a population, during the
active mining season, of about one thousand, and is sustained princi-
pally by hydratdic and cement mining — ^being situated on the "Blue
Lead " channel. Five cement mills are worked steadily and successfully
in the vicinity of the town. Eureka, which is situated on the divide
between the South and Middle Yuba^ being surrounded by shsdlow
placers^ was a favorite mining ground in the earlier day, the diggings
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00UKTIE8 OF CALIPOBNU. 237
being easily worked, bnt soon exhausted. Lately the district has
attraotekl maoh attention by its many promising veins of quartz, for
working which five or six mills have been put up within the past year.
The most of these mills are running steadily, and are understood to be
meeting with a fair degree of success. Much work is being expended
in the development of the mines, and the prospect is that Eureka will
in a short time become one of the most active camps in the eastern part
of the county. In the Meadow Lake district, lying upon the summit of
the Sierra, in the eastern part of the county, a great number of gold
bearing lodes were discovered in 1864> and much excitement ensuing,
a population of more than one thousand was drawn into the district
soon after. Five quartz mills have since been erected, but much diffi-
culty having been experienced in treating the ores, owing to a want of
suitable processes for saving the gold, the most of these mills have
remained idle since their erection. When this want shall be supplied,
this will, no doubt, become a very prosperous district, as the ledges,
which are large and numerous, are known to carry a large percentage of
gold, while the facilities for reduction, owing to an abundance of wood
and water, are of the very first order.
The present popxdation of Nevada couniy numbers about eighteen
thousand, the assessed value of the real and personal property therein
being nearly 16,000,000, exclusive of mines. As stated, the business of
mining for gold constitutes the leading pursuit in Nevada^ the mines
here consisting of both placer and quartz^ the former conducted mostly
by deep tunneling and hydratdic washing. Vein mining was entered
iq>on in this coxmty at a very early day; about the first persistent trials
made in the State having been at Grass Valley, where this branch of
the business was initiated as early as the spring of 1851; and where it
has since been prosecuted with better average results extending through
a series of years than at any other point perhaps in the world. At
first mistakes were made, and difficulties encountered here as well as
elsewhere,; but, through persevering efforts and good management^
these have been so far overcome that latterly a high degree of success
has rewarded the labors of many companies operating in that neigh-
borhood. Glancing at a few prominent facts connected with the history
of these, a more detailed notice of the whole will be found in our chapter
on ''Mines and Mining." Viewed as a whole, the lodes in this district
are not distinguished so much for their heavy body of vein matter as the
hig^ grade and tractable character of the ores they carry; hence the
&cility with which the latter have been managed and the very liberal and
often extremely large returns that have attended their working.
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238 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP OALIPORNIA-
The yield of bullion from the Eureka mine, for the year ending Sep-
tember 30, 1866^ amounted to $521,431.41; mining and milling expenses,
and cost of construction for same period being $192,648.44 leaving a
profit divided among the owners of $328,782.97 — ^nearly all extracted by
a twentynstamp mill belonging to the company. The whole amount of ore
crushed was ll,375f tons, the average yield being $45.83 per ton. The
total product of bullion from this mine for the year ending September
30, 1867, was $585,316.10, net profits $348,102.37, the average yield of
the ore, including sulphur ets, having been within a fraction of $48 per ton.
The North Star mine for the six months, ending January 1st, 1868,
turned out $110,545.84 of which $20,000 were divided as net profits,
and $30,000 expended on improvements, the balance having been ab-
sorbed by current expenses of working the mill and mine. These results
were not so favorable as had previously been obtained, the company
claiming to have cleared from this mine during the five years ending
with June, 1867, the sum of $375,000, From the Empire mine there
were raised during the fourteen years, ending June 30th, 1867, a total
of 37,840 tons of ore, which yielded an average of $35.20 per ton.
During the following six months 3,500 tons of ore were extracted from
this mine, turning out a total of $100,000 — $27,000 of which were dis-
bursed to the owners as net gains. Among many other productive and
promising mines in the vicinity of Nevada, the Banner, situated about
two and a half miles southeast of the town, stands conspicuous, hav-
ing for several years past been worked with energy and success. The
company own a twenty-stamp mill, which is kept in steady operation
on the ores raised from the mine — 2,768 tons of which, reduced during
ihe four months ending with January 1st, 1868, yielded $65,512.72, the
average yield having been at the rate of $23.74 per ton. There were
raised from the mine, between January 1st, 1865 and January 1st, 1868,
10,222 tons of ore, which gave a bullion product of $207,949.66, making
an average yield of $20.34 to the ton, of all the ore taken from the
mine since it was first opened. A shaft has been sunk on the ledge to
a depth of four hundred and twenty feet, at which point it varies from
one to four feet in thickness, the average thickness being about three
f eei Within the past fourteen years the total production of the placer
and quartz mines in Grass Valley district has amounted to about
$24000,000 — the most prolific vein in the neighborhood, that running
through Massachusetts and Gold hills, having yielded over $6,000,000.
While the most extensive worked and best paying quartz mines in the
county are those in the vicinity of Grass Valley, there are a great num-
ber in other localities from which excellent returns are being obtained.
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBKLL 239
There are at the present time sixty-fiye quartz and twenty-one
cement mills in this county — ^the entire number carrying six hundred
and eighty-five stamps, and costing in the aggregate 11,350,000. Some
of these mills are large and perfect in all their appointments, no
expense requisite to their efficiency having been spared.
Besides the precious metals^ many copper becuring veins have been
foxmd in different parts of this county, the largest number being located
in Bough and Beady township, where a great deal of labor was applied
towards opening these lodes in the spring of 1863. The ores, how-
ever, generally proving of too low a grade to warrant thorough devel-
opment^ all work was within the following two years suspended, to be
resumed, most likely, when labor shall be cheaper, and the prices of
copper ore advanced beyond present figures. These ores ranged from
five to twelve per cent, of metal, and one lot sent to Swansea netted a
profit of thirty-five dollars per ton to the shippers.
There are over fifty water ditches in this county, many of which
having been consolidated since their construction with other works of
the kind, have lost their original names. These improvements have an
aggregate linear extent of eight hundred and fifty miles, and cost about
$4250,000. The first of these enterprises was projected as early as
1850, the more recent having been consummated only within the past
few years. Some of these works, not less on account of their cost and
the grand scale on which they have been designed, than of the vast
utilitarian ends accomplished through their completion, deserve to be
ranked among the great public improvements of the day.
At the present time, the two leading works of this kind in the county
are the Eureka Lake and Yuba Canal Consolidated, and the ditch of
the South Yuba Canal company, both among the most costly, exten-
sive and profitable works of the kind in the State. The last named of
these ditches, taking water from the South Yuba, and from several
lakes, as feeders, carries it to the mining camps about Dutch Flat and
Ctold Bun, in Placer county, and down the ridge between the South
Yuba and Bear river, as far as Grass Valley, supplying on its route,
the intermediate country. The ditches of this company are remarkable
for the permanent manner in which they have been constructed, and for
the fact that the property still belongs to its original planners and
builders — ^the most of these works having, through the inability of the
first projectors to carry them on, passed, at an early stage in their
progress, into the hands of other parties. The main trunk of this com-
pany's system of ditches, though but sixteen miles long, cost, with its
tunnels and flumes, not far from $600,000. One of these tunnels, sixty
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240 THE NATUBAL l^EALTH OF GAUFOBNIA.
feet in length, cost $6,000; another, three thousand eight hundred feet
long, having cost 1112,000, The flume, seven miles long, runs for one
and a half miles through a gallery worked into the side of a precipice
of solid rock one hundred feet high — ^the cliff being so impending that
the workmen had to be let down from the top to commence drilling
and blasting, an expedient not at all uncommon in the construction of
these works in other parts of the State. This main trunk is six feet
wide and five feet deep, having capacity to carry eight thousand five
hundred inches of water, miner's measurement From this head ditch
branches ramify, carrying water over an immense tract of country, sup-
plying a vast nimiber of mills, hydraulic and sluice claims. This
company have thrown dams across the outlets of four lakes situated
near the summit of the Sierra, using them as reserves for supplying
their canals in the dry season. One of these dams, constructed of solid
masonry, foriy-two feet high and one thousand one hundred and fifty
feet long, at the outlet of Meadow Lake, has increased its volume of
water more than ten fold — ^this lake, formerly a mere pond, now being,
when full, more than a mile and a quarter long by half a mile wide.
This dam cost over $50,000 — an equal sum having been expended in
securing, in like manner, the waste flow from four other smaller lakes
in the vicinity. The books of this company show that they have con-
structed and purchased about two hundred and seventy-five miles of
these aqueducts at a prime cost of more than $1,000,000. During the
twelve years ending in 1867 their expense account reached $1,130,000 ;
receipts for the same time being $1,400,000.
The works of the Eureka Lake and Yuba Canal Company consist of
one grand trunk, commencing in four small lakes near the summit of
the Sierra, and reaching to North San Juan, sixty-five miles, together
with several side ditches purchased of other parties, the whole after-
wards consolidated into one system. The principal source of water
supply is Eureka lake, increased by damming from an area of one to
two square miles, and a depth of sixty-five feet The dam across its
outlet, constructed of granite, is seventy feet high and two hundred and
fifty feet long. The supply of water in this reservoir is estimated at
nine hundred and thirty-three millions cubic feet, to which may be
added a further store secured by damming the outlet of Lake Faucherie,
and other smaller reservoirs, amounting to three hxmdred millions
cubic feet The main trunk, carrying the water from these reservoirs,
is eight feet wide by three and a half deep, and has a fall of sixteen
and a half feet to the mile, giving it a capacity of over three thousand
inches.
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBNIA. 241
The National and Magenta aqueducts, near Eureka^ and which from
their proximity, may be abnost considered one work, exceed in magni-
tude and cost any other structure of the kind in the State. The former,
resting on a scaffolding of immense timbers hewn from trees cut near
by, is one thousand eight hundred feet long and sixty-five feet high —
the latter, supported in like manner, has a length of one thousand four
htmdred feet, its greatest height being one hundred and twenty-six feet
This lofty and massive frame work, constructed of so many thousand
enormous braces and beams, has been built in curves to give it strength
to resist the winds that sometimes sweep with great force through the
gorge that it crosses. The main canal, flumes and dams of this com-
pany, have cost very nearly one million dollars. The various canals and
ditches, which, in December, 1^65, became consolidated under the title
now borne by this company, are the Eureka Lake canal, sixty-five miles
long ; Miners' ditch, twenty-five miles ; Grizzly ditch, fourteen miles ;
the two Spring Creek ditches, each twelve miles long; and the Middle
Yuba canal, forty miles long. In addition to these main canals there
are many lateral and distributing branches, having a united length of
over sixty miles, the whole making a total of two hundred and twenty-
eight miles, the actual cost of which exceeded 11,500,000.
The Middle Yuba canal, taking water from the middle fork of the
Yuba^ at a point a little above Bloody Run, carries it in a ditch seven
feet wide by four and a half deep to Badger Hill, San Juan, Sebastopol,
Sweetland, Birchville, and French Corral, a distance of forty miles.
It has a capacity of one thousand five hundred inches, and cost origin-
ally $400,000. The sum of half a million dollars is estimated to have
been spent on projects commenced in 1853 for conducting water from
Poorman's creek to Orlefims, Moore's and Woolsey's Flats, and for car-
rying the waters of the Middle Yuba into the adjacent diggings, a por-
tion of which were failures. Of the many subordinate ditches in this
cotmty which we have not the space to more fully notice, a number are
extensive and costly structures, the aggregate expenditure on the whole
having been not less than $1,000,000.
PLACEB COUNTY.
This county, so named from the Spanish term placer, signifying a
place where gold is foxmd mixed with the alluvial detritus, is bounded
by Yuba and Nevada counties on the north, by the* State of Nevada on
the east, by El Dorado and Sacramento on the south, and by Sutter and
Nevada counties on the wesi In proportion to its length, it is the nar-
rowest county in the State, being eighty miles long, east and west, and
16
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242 THE NATDBAL WEALTH OP CAIIPORNIA.
having an average width of but fourteen miles — ^a conformation due, as
in the ease of many other counties lying against the western slope of
the Sierra^ to the peculiar topography of the country. The rivers flowing
in nearly parallel channels down this water shed having divided it into
long elevated ridges, it has been found convenient, in many instances,
to form the counties out of one or two of these ridges, making their
northerly and southerly boundaries the streams running between them.
Thus, in the case of Placer, we find Bear river forming, for a long dis-
tance, the dividing line between it, Tuba and Nevada on the north, while
the middle fork of the American separates it from El Dorado county on
the south. With so great an easterly and westerly elongation, the upper
portion of the county rests upon the rugged summits of the Sierra^
while the lower falls almost to a level T^th tide water.
As elsewhere throughout this entire tier of mining coxmties, the
winter climate of Placer varies with sdtitude; the weather being warm
and spring-like in the western, and even, mild and pleasant in the cen-
tral sections thereof, while the eastern are deeply buried beneath the
accumulated snows — ^the tops of the moimtains being enveloped in
almost constant mists and clouds, and their sides swept by frequent
storms.
The north fork of the American river, running centrally through
Placer, and the middle fork, cutting it on its southern border, have fur-
rowed this .county with terrific canons, the gorges formed by these streams
being from one thousand eight hundred to two thousand five hundred
feet deep. In many places their sides have an average slope from top
to bottom of more than thirty degrees. The narrowness of these
chasms, only sufficiently wide, as a general thing, to give passage to
the rivers flowing through them, accounts for the sudden and excessive
rise that sometimes takes place in these streams, a stage of fifty or sixty
feet above low water mark being reached in the course of a few hours.
What further contributes towards these sudden rises, is the general
steepness of the water shed about the sources of these rivers, which
lies high against the precipitous declivities of the Sierra. With such
a body of water rushing down a steeply inclined bed, some proper con-
ception can be formed of the forces that have been operating to exca-
vate these canons; and when it is considered that a much greater quan-
tiiy of rain fell on these mountains when the immense glaciers that
once nearly covered them were melting away, we have forces supplied
more than adequate to the production of these tremendous results.
Even some of the tributary canons to the main streams are very deep
and narrow. Several of these, situated high up on the divide, meas-
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OOUiniES OF OAUFOBNIA. 243
iired by thd members of the State Geological Survey, were fotmd to
Tary in depth from one thousand six hundred to two thousand feet
The precipitous character of these ravines is made apparent by the fact
that the summits of their opposing banks are often less than three
fourths of a mile asunder, giving to their walls an average slope of
nearly forty-five degrees. Observations made by the Geological Sur-
vey in certain of these canons, situated in the vicinity of Last Chance
and Deadwood, showed that the aurifero.us slates, here exposing a ver-
tical section one thousand five hundred feet deep, have, in their upper
portions, extending downwards ten or twelve htmdred feet, the usual
easterly dip of the formation, while, below this point they gradually
assume a perpendicular position, and finally curve to the west, estab-
lishing their true dip at great depth to be in that direction, and supply-
ing a striking example of the manner in which the upper portions of
these slates have been forced over by the gradual pressure of the Sierra
from above.
As elsewhere in the more Alpine regions of the Sierra^ snow and
land slides are of frequent occurrence in the upper portions of this
county — hardly a season passing without one — and sometimes several
deaths happening from these causes. The track of the Central Pacific,
railroad, as well also as some of the wagon roads leading over the moun-
r tains, have frequently suffered temporary obstruction from land slides —
large patches, sometimes several acres of the steep moimtain side, that
have become saturated with water, slipping suddenly down and cover-
ing them to a depth of many feet, destroying the lives of men and ani-
mab overtaken by them. In some instances large sized trees, standing
in their natural positions, are brought down on these detached masses,
and continue growing as before. The snow slide, a similar phenome-
non, is of more common occurrence than the land slide, being also more
frequently destructive of life. In the month of March, 1867, a working
pariy consisting of sixiy men, employed on the Central Pacific railroad,
at a point a little above Bonner lake^ on the confines of this county,
were overwhelmed by a catastrophe of this kind, whereby seventeen
of their number lost their lives, many of the survivors having been
badly injured. In the same month, nine houses were destroyed, and a
woman in one of them crushed to death, by an avalanche of snow, in the
Eearsarge district, Inyo coimiy. Near the scene of the first mentioned
disaster, six stage horses were killed by a snow slide in January, 1868,
while attached to a vehicle filled with passengers, all of whom escaped
imhurt. In fact, scarcely a winter passes in which accidents of this
kind, attended with fatal resxdts, do not happen in some part of the
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244 THE NATURAL UTEALTH OF OAUFOBNIA.
State — ^their more frequent occurrence in this particular neighborhood
being simply due to the fact that two great thoroughfares, tiie Central
Pacific railroad and the Bonner Lake wagon road, lead through it,
causing larger numbers to be exposed to their destructive force. These
snow slides are caused bj a sudden slipping down of great bodies of
snow, and not bj an agglomeration of the latter rolling and accumu-
lating as it descends, after the manner of the avalanches that occur in
the Alps. Where the body of snow moved is heavy a clear path is
swept, immense trees being snapped off like reeds, and huge boulders
carried along before the descending mass.
The whole of this county is well timbered, except the western por-
tion, which, sinking into the nearly treeless plains of the Sacramento,
is without other timber than a few oaks, growing mostly along the water
courses. The business of lumbering is carried on extensively in the
central and eastern parts of the county, which contain thirty saw mills,
each capable of cutting from two to thirty thousand feet of lumber
daily, and costing from two to ten thousand dollars. About two thirds
of these mills are driven by steam and the rest by water. As is the
case generally throughout the mining counties, rough lumber, at the
mills, seUs ^t^ prices varying from fifteen to twenty dollars per thou-
sand.
Placer contains a considerable amount of good agricultural land, its
western part being wholly devoted to farming, sheep, hog and cattle
raising. About seventy-five thousand acres of land were enclosed in
1867, of which nearly two thirds were under cultivation. Of these,
about six thousand were planted to wheat, five thousand to barley, and
three thousand to oats ; a variety of other grains, with large quantities
of butter, cheese, fruits and vegetables, being produced. In fact.
Placer holds a conspicuous place among the mining cotmties for its
orchards, vineyards and gardens, the number of vines and fruit trees
planted being very large. There are three grist mills in the couniy —
one, the Auburn City mill capable of grinding seventy-five barrels of
flour daily — the others being of less capacity.
The present population of the county is estimated at twelve thou-
sand, of whom one thousand two hundred are residents of Auburn, the
county seat, once the center of a broad scope of rich placers, and in the
vicinity of which a considerable amount of quartz mining is still being
carried on. The votes cast in this county at the general election held
in the fall of 1867 numbered two thousand six hundred and seventy.
Butch Flat, an active mining town on the line of the Central Pacific
railroad, thirty-two miles northeast of Auburn, contains a population
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COUNTIES OF OAUFOBNU. 245
of two thousand. The following phices are also thrifty Tnining towns,
some of them jJie centers of extensive quartz^ hydraulic or tunnel opera-
tions: Gold Bun, three miles southeast of Dutch Flat, in the vicinity
of which there was produced from hydratdic washings during the year
1866, $360,000, and during the following year $500,000; Todd's Valley,
eighteen miles northeast of Auburn, formerly the site of rich alluvial
washings, and now a brisk hamlet surrounded with gardens and other
evidences of taste and progress. Three miles north of this place is
Yankee Jim's, one of the earliest camps in this section of country, and
although the rich surface placers that once made it famous were long
since exhausted, still rendered a busy locality by the hydraulic opera-
tions that have succeeded the more shallow diggings. Lying three
miles east of this place is the stirring town and neighborhood of For-
est Hill, containing about seven himdred inhabitants, and possessing
one of the best cement ranges in the State, for the working of which
material a large number of mills have been erected. Michigan Blu£^
six miles southeast of Forest Hill, has a popxdation of about one thou-
sand. Wisconsin Hill, Iowa Hill, Blinoistown, Virginia^ and Gold
Hill, are all the headquarters and trade centers of considerable mining
distaicts lying about them, the popxdation of each being from three to
six hundred. The most of these towns have constructed large reser-
voirs for supplying them with water obtained from the canals that gen-
erally pass near them. Several of the number are incorporated, and
all contain a large proportion of pleasant homesteads, indicating the
enjoyment of a high degree of independence and comfort among the
inhabitants. Colfax and Cisco, both situated on the line of the Cen-
tral Pacific railroad, are places of some importance — the former being
the intersecting point for the business and travel of Grass Valley,
Nevada, and other places further north.
At the general election held in 1863, the people of the coimty voted
to subscribe two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the capital stock
of the Central Pacific railroad, which, entering the county near its
northwestern comer, runs diagonally across it in a northeast direction,
for a distance of more than fifty miles.
A heavy mass of auriferous detritus crosses this county from north
to south, its thickness in some places being over five hundred feci
Occupying this gold bearing mass are the extensive hydraulic and
cement mines found aroimd Iowa Hill, Wisconsin Hill, Michigan Bluff
and Forest Hill, the latter one of the most important cement mining
districts in the State — ^this material here being so indurated that it
requires to be crushed with stamps in order to release the gold. The
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246 THE NATDBAL WEALTH OP OALIPORNIA.
mills ruimiiig on this cement Iiaye generally obtained such favorable
results that their number is being constantly increased, the opportuni-
ties for extending these operations being almost unlimited.
Placer contains within its limits forty quartz and cement mills-
there being twenty-seven of the former and thirteen of the latter.
The number of stamps in these establishments vary from five to forty —
the whole amounting to nearly four hundred. Their individual cost
has ranged from $2,000 to $50,000— the aggregate being about $300,000.
Banking next to Nevada and Tuolumne, stands Placer in regard to
the magnitude and cost of its water ditches, the Auburn and Bear
Biver canal, in this coimty, being, with one exception, the longest single
work of the kind in the State, as it is also one of the most costly and
capacious. This magnificent improvement has a length of two hundred
and ninety miles, inclusive of feeders and branches, and required in
its construction an expenditure of $670, 000. There are six other ditches
in the county that cost over $100,000 each, and twenty of subordinate
capacity, the cost of which has ranged from -$5,000 to $50,000 each.
EL DORADO COUNTY.
V
Thait the term El Dorado should have readily obtained a place in the
geographical nomenclature of the interior of the State, will not sur-
prise those familiar with the circumstances under which it was settled ;
nor was the name perhaps, inaptly applied to this particular coimty,
since it was within its limits that the first gold was found, and here, for
sometime, the pioneer miner met with his most steady and abundant
rewards. This county has Placer on the north; a portion of the State
of Nevada, and Alpine county on the east ; Alpine and Amador coxm-
ties on the south, and Sacramento and Placer on the wesi Its length,
east and west, is sixty miles, and its width thiriy miles — its superficial
area being nearly two thousand square miles. The middle fork of the
American river separates it from Placer, and the Oosumnes, with its
south fork, separates it from Amador county. The channel of the for-
mer is sunk far below the general level of the country, its average depth
being more than two thousand feci Three fourths of the county, em-
bracing all the eastern and moxmtainous portions thereof, is heavliy tim-
bered. The lower section contains only a scattered growth of oak and
pine, of inferior quality, the most westerly part being nearly destitute
of trees.
Lumbering has always been prosecuted on a large scale in this
coimty — Shaving been early engaged in and steadily kept up. It now
contains twenty-six saw mills, carrying forty-two gangs of saws, tiie
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNU. 247
meet of them numixig with little interruption. The unnecessary waste
of valuable timber, however, has here been deplorably great — ^trees
from which ten or fifteen fine saw logs might be made having often been
felled, and two or three, or perhaps half a dozen of the choicest cuts
being selected, the balance has been left to rot on the ground. Fre-
quently monster trees have been cut down with a view to their being
split into shakes or shingles, when, should the first few cuts tried not
happen to rive well, the whole has, in like manner been abandoned, the
locality being, perhaps, too far distant from a mill to render the tree
available for saw logs. This reckless destruction of these fine forests
would not be so lamentable had it been restricted to this county alone.
There are numerous small valleys and alluvial flats in this coxmty
under cultivation — ^nearly all the cereals, fruits and vegetables grown in
California being here raised with little trouble. In fact, this coimiy
may be said to contain a large percentage of farming land, since nearly
one half its surface would be adapted to tillage, if cleared of timber.
Owing to the circumstance that many of the fertile valleys and flats here,
as well as elsewhere throughout the mining counties, contained rich de-
posits of gold, they have been completely destroyed by having all their
alluvial soil washed away by the miner. Thousands of acres of valu-
able land have thus been irretrievably ruined. El Dorado having suffered
largely in this respect Fruits of all kinds, more especially apples,
pears and peaches, are here raised in such abundance as to be of little
or no value in localities remote from market. Even in the vicinity of
many of the more populous towns, fruit is often produced in such excess
of local wants — ^none of it^ while green, being ever shipped away — ^that
it can be had for the gathering. Lately, however, the business of dry-
ing certain kinds is being more largely engaged in, rendering it prob*
able that its production will be more remunerative hereafter. A large
number of vines have been planted, and are everywhere foxmd to thrive
well — ^El Dorado ranking third or fourth among the wine producing
counties of the State. Some of the wines made here are highly
esteemed, meeting not only with local favor, but having already obtained
an extensive sale abroad. There are two grist mills in the coxmty, hav*
ing a joint capacity to make about one hundred barrels of flour daily.
The present population of this county is estimated at fifteen thou-
sand, a large proportion of the inhabitants being women and children*
Few of the mountain counties contain so large a number of small, well
cultivated farms and comfortable homesteads as this ; nor has the
industry of any other been marked by a greater diversity of pursuits.
The early construction of a railroad from tidewater to the western con-
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^ THE NATURAL 1¥EALTH OF OAUFOBNLL
fines of this county, and its subsequent extension almost to the county
seat, has done much, by facilitating the carriage of its products to mar-
ket, towards establishing new branches of industry and stimulating the
productive energies of the people. Through El Dorado, stretching
along its whole length, lies the principal route by which the overland
immigration has always entered California — the freight and travel
hence to the silver regions of Nevada, and coimtries beyond, having,
until recently, pursued also the same thoroughfare; keeping a constant
tide of business flowing both ways through the county, to the enrich-
ment of many who participated more directly in its benefits, and the
great advantage of the inhabitants at large. In no county in the State
has there been so much money expended in the construction of wagon
roads as in this — ^the most of these enterprises consisting of toll roads
built to secure the heavy trade across the Sierra^ that sprung up on the
discovery of the Washoe mines. Upon this class of improvements
alone, more than a quarter of million of dollars has been expended,
besides large sums spent on roads of minor importance. Towards the
building of some of these works the cotmty, in its corporate capacity,
has contributed ; the greater portion, however, has been executed by
private, and, for the most part, local capital. The citizens of Placer-
ville, the county seat, at a municipal election held in April, 1863, voted
an appropiation of $100,000 towards aiding in the building of the
Placerville and Sacramento Valley railroad ; the people, at the general
election of the same year, having voted, on behalf of the county at
large, the further sum of $200,000 for tiie same purpose.
PlacerviUe, the largest town in the county, has a population of about
four thousand. It is distinguished for the number of its handsome
churches, its excellent schools, and the enterprise, intelligence and
orderly habits of its citizens. The town is supplied with gas and water
works, and is so completely embowered in vines, trees» flowers and
shrubbery, as to seem, when viewed from the surrounding hills, an
almost continuous field of orchards, vineyards and gardens.
Ooloma^ located on the south fork of the American river, ten miles
northwest of Placerville, has been rendered equally attractive by a
profuse planting of vines and trees in and around it. Some of the
most thrifty vineyards in the county are situated in the environs of this
place — one of these being the property of James W. Marshall, the dis-
coverer of gold in Calif omia — ^which event, having happened within the
precincts of the town, must secure for Coloma (Sutter's mill, as the
place was then called,) a conspicuous place in history. This vineyard
comprises all the property that Marshall now owns, and to its culture
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C50UNTIE8 OP CALIFOBNLL 249
he has for many years devoted his labor and attention. The extensive
bar lying a little below the town on which the first washings were per-
formed, has, through many re-workings, been almost wholly washed
away — ^the old mill and the race below it, in which the first piece of
gold was picked np, having long since disappeared. The adjacent river
banks, once extensively worked — ^the old bar, and others a little further
down, together with the ravines and flats in the surrounding district,
having been well nigh exhausted. There has been for several years
past but comparatively little mining going on in the vicinity of this
once productive and ever memorable locality. Coloma contains, at the
present time, about nine hundred inhabitants, scarcely half the number
that dwelt in and around it in its more prosperous days. But, as most
of the adjacent countiy has the advantage of a rich tractable soil,
enjoys a fine climate, and is well supplied with timber, it cannot fail
to become, in a short time, a prosperous farming district, there being
ahready scattered over it many pleasant homes and broad grain fields.
Georgetown, an early, and once prosperous mining town, is situ-
ated on the ridge between the south and middle forks of the American
river, fourteen miles north of Placerville. It has now a population of
about five hundred, the former number of inhabitants having been
greatly reduced through the exhaustion of the placers around it A
number of quartz veins are, however, being successfully worked in the
neighborhood — the prospect promising well for an early extension of
this business.
Taking the county seat for a starting point, we have the following
mining towns lying around it in various directions, with the popula-
tion of each indicated by the figures annexed, viz. : Diamond Springs,
three miles southwest, 600 ; El Dorado, five miles southwest, 700 ;
Grizzly Flat, twenty miles southeast, 400 ; Pilot Hill, twenty miles
northwest, 400; Gktrden Valley, eleven miles northerly, 300; and Shingle
Springs, nine miles southwest, 400 ; besides many mining camps and
hamlets scattered over the county, and containing from fifty to two
hundred and fifty inhabitants each.
Notwithstanding the gulch and bar diggings are pretty nearly worked
out, there are in many parts of this county heavy masses of auriferous
cement and detritus, that are being extensively and profitably operated
upon either through hydraulic washing, tunneling or crushing with
stamps. Many gold bearing quartz veins are also being developed,
milling operations, for a time nearly suspended, having been very active
during the past two years; and to suppose that a very prosperous
future awaits this interest in El Dorado, would, in view of the abund-
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250 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
•
ance of fair grade quartz it contains, and the facilities that exist for
' its economical reduction, be bj no means a violent assumption.
There are thirty quartz and eight cement mills in the county — ^the
whole carrying four hundred and thirty-five stamps. Several of these
mills have cost as high as $60,000 each^ the aggregate cost having been
about $400,000. There are also fifty water ditches^ one of them, that
of the Eureka Canal company, being the longest in the State, extend-
ing a distance of four hundred and fifty miles. The total length of
these canals is one thousand two hundred and fifty miles, gi^g them
an average length of twenty-five miles. The Eureka canal cost $500, 000 ;
the Pilot Creek, one hundred and fifty miles long, cost $300,000; the
South Fork canal, but thirty-three and a quarter miles long, having, in
consequence of its large size and the difficult character of the country
through which it runs, cost an equal amouni The entire sum spent in
the construction of these various works is very large, and although the
revenues of many have been liberal, few have proved sources of profit
to the proprietors, owing, in many cases, not more to the great cost of
their construction than to the expensive and protracted litigation in
which they have been involved.
Besides a number of manufacturing interests that are beginning to
gain a foothold in the county, in a small way, it contains several tan-
neries, iron f ounderies, and similar establishments, all of moderate
capacity. Some years since quite an extensive and profitable summer
trade was inaugurated by the citizens of El Dorado, in bringing down
ice, or rather the frozen and compacted snow found on the Sierra, and
supplying it to the mining towns below — a business which has under-
gone considerable expansion since the construction of wagon roads into
the mountains, whereby the transportation of this article, formerly car-
ried on pack animals, has been cheapened and facilitated.
A great number of copper veins were located in the western part of
this county about five years ago, upon which an immense amount of
labor was, in the aggregate, expended. But, as little of this work was
concentrated at any one point, none of these lodes were fully proven ;
and, although many small lots of rich ore were extracted, the perma-
nency and value of the deposits remain undecided. That a large pro-
portion of these veins will be shown, on more thorough exploration, to
lack in persistence, seems probable, a few having already been proven
mere segregated lenticular masses; others, however, exhibit more satis-
factory evidences of permanancy, and the prospect that El Dorado will
find in this metal a source of much future wealth is thought to be
encouraging. The first copper vein opened in the State, known as the
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OOXnniES OF GALIFOBNIi. 251
Bodgers mine, is located in Hope vallej, formerly wiihin the limits of
this county, now a portion of Alpine. The vein here is smaU, but the
ores are of high grade, and with better means of carriage, wonld pay
well for shipment to market For several years the redaction works
abont Virginia City obtained their supplies of copper from this mine.
El Dorado abounds with marble of excellent quality, there being at
least twenty beds that, having been partially opened, give promise of
making valuable quarries. The material is of all the varieties known
to the trade — one deposit, near Grizzly Flat, being of an unclouded
white, and more than three hundred feet thick ; within this bed there
exists an extensive grotto, consisting, so far as explored, of a succes-
sion of rooms connected by narrow passages. Some of these chambers
are spacious and lofiy, their entire length being seven hundred feet.
Pendant from their roofs are numerous stalactites^ imi>arting to them,
when illuminated, a yeiy brilliant appearance.
AMADOB COUIHT.
This county, named, like several other localities in the State, after
one of the early California families of Spanish origin, has £1 Dorado
couniy on the north, Alpine on the east, Calaveras on the south, and
San Joaquin and Sacramento on the wesi It has a conformation not
unlike that of Placer, being long and narrow. Its entire length, meas-
ured east and west, is fifty-two miles, and its average breadth ten miles.
The Mokelumne river, separating it from Calaveras, forms its southern
boundary throughout almost its entire length — ^the Cosumnes, on the
north, dividing it from El Dorado, and forming two thirds of its bound-
ary on that side. In its geology, topography, soil, climate, timber and
other natural productions, it resembles the several counties last de-
scribed, except that the river canons here are not so deep, while the
proportion of good farming land is greater. Formerly this county
extended into and beyond the high Sierra, a distinction of which it was
deprived in 1864 by the erection of Alpine county from the eastern
portion of its territory; at present it barely reaches in that direction to
the base of the great snowy range. The eastern section is, nevertheless,
very rugged and broken, reaching a general altitude of between four
and five thousand feet. The only isolated mountain, however, of any
great height within its limits, is the BiUley so called, three and a half
miles east of Jackson, which has an estimated elevation of one thou-
sand two hundred feet above the town, and eight hundred feet above the
coimtry at its base. It is whoUy of volcanic origin, has an irregular
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252 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
conical shape, and is often ascended for the sake of the fine yiew.i
enjoyed from its top.
Eunning into this county from Calaveras is a heavy belt of lime-
stone, penetrating to the town of Volcano, located near its center. A
few miles to the northeast of this place the granite formation sets in,
the upheaval of which composes the crest and peaks of the main Sierra.
The overlying volcanic masses exhibit themselves in greatest strength
towards the southerly line of the county, the auriferous slates appear-
ing in the westerly and northwestern parts. All except the lower por-
tions of the county are heavily timbered, and about twelve million feet
of lumber are made every year, the most of which is required for home
consumption. Many shakes and shingles are also made, there being
several shingle machines in the county. The saw mills are twelve in
number — two or three of large, and the balance of moderate capacity.
With the exception of four flouring mills, two of large size, a tannery
and a foundry, there is but little manufacturing carried on in the
county. A large amount of money, however, has been expended in
the construction of wagon roads and water ditches — ^not less than one
million five hundred thousand dollars having been laid out upon the
latter, and one hundred and fifty thousand dollars on the former. There
are tweniy-eight of these water ditches, and, although none of them are
over seventy miles in length, the building of some has been very expen-
sive. The Amador canal, taking water from the north fork of the
Mokelumne river, and conducting it to Pine Qrrove, a distance of about
sixty-six miles, cost over $400,000 — ^the individual cost of several others
having reached over $150,000. The largest and most expensive road
in the county is that commencing at Jackson and extending across the
Sierra to the head of Carson valley, opening wagon communication
between -the county seat and the State of Nevada. The aggregate length
of water ditches is four hundred and twenty miles ; the linear extent of
improved wagon roads is about half that distance. The building of
some portions of these roads lying through mountainous districts has
been attended with heavy cost
Situated among the lower foothills of Amador are some of the rich-
est agricultural valleys in the State. Though of comparatively limited
area, ranging from three to six miles in length, and from two to three
in breadth, their yield of grains and fruits is not only certain but always
prolific. In these valleys Indian com grows well, three or four thou-
sand bushels having been raised some seasons. The more fertile of
these spots consist of lone, Dry creek, Jackson, and Buckeye valleys,
and the several deltas formed by these and other creeks. With corn-
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COIJOTIES OP CALIFOBNIA. 253
f ortable farm honses, snrrotinded by orchards, gardens and grain fields,
with their well fenced enclosures and a rich friable soil, covered with a
scattered growth of ancient oaks, these valleys present the very ideal
of roral felicity and enjoyment. Much of the hill land in this county
has also been found well suited to the production of the cereals, and
more especially of the grape, which here attains, both in size and flavor,
its greatest perfection. Still higher up in the Sierra, and in some
places lying upon its very summit, are many little dales and savannas
covered with a variety of wild grasses, which, keeping green through-
out the summer, afford excellent pasturage for large numbers of cattle;
the herders from the valleys driving their stock thither during the dry
season and returning them again to the plains on the approach of win-
ter. In the winter these grassy spots are deeply covered with snow,
which often remains upon them until late in the spring. In the center
of some of them are small lakes, which, if shallow, are frozen over,
the deeper remaining open all winter.
The population of Amador county is estimated at about 11,000.
Jackson, the county seat, pleasantly situated on a creek of the same
name, and in the vicinity of a group of valuable mines, contains one
thousand inhabitants. The town having been nearly all burnt up in
August, 1862, was soon after rebuilt, mainly with brick and other
indestructable material, rendering the most of the houses fire-proof,
and securing the place against the recurrence of a similar catastrophe.
Sutter Creek, Amador and Drytown, lying northwest of Jackson, being
on or near the main mineral belt running across the county, are all
prosperous towns with valuable and productive mines in the vicinity.
Sutter Creek contains, in and about it, a population of eight hundred;
Amador six hundred, and Drytown seven hundred. lone City, twelve
miles west of the county seat, contains six hundred inhabitants. It is
a beautiful spot, surrounded with fruitful, well cultivated gardens and
tarmSf there being but little mining carried on in the neighborhood.
Fiddletown, Forest Home, Lancha Plana, and Volcano, are all thrifty
mining towns; the latter with a population of nine hundred, Fiddletown
and Lancha Plana having each about half that number.
In a metaliferous point of view Amador is for its size an important
county; a belt of auriferous earth and rocks about twelve miles wide,
running entirely across its lower and most populous part. Along the
westerly edge of this belt rests the Veia Madre, in which lies some of
the most profitable and largely productive quartz claims in the State.
First among these stands the Eureka, better known of late as the Hay-
ward mine, the history of which, apart from the general interest it
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254 THE yATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
awakens, is full of instructive and encouraging lessons to all who how
do or may contemplate becoming engaged in the quartz mining business.
This claim, first opened in the spring of 1852, was for about one year
worked with remunerative results, after which it not only ceased to be
profitable, but failed to pay ordinary wages. In November, 1853,
Alvinza Hayward purchased an interest in the mine, and becoming
soon after half owner, continued working it for four years, but with
such ill results that it had by the end of this time so completely im-
poverished him that the credit he enjoyed with the local traders was
due more to his merits as a man than to any confidence felt in the pros-
pective success of his mine. About this time, however, the character
of the ores — the four hundred foot level having been reached — began to
improve, and from thence on to the present the mine has continued to
pay with constantly increasing profit; its total product during the past
ton years having been $3,725,000, of which sum more than one half
were nett earnings. The working of this claim has tended to establish
a few very important facts considered in their bearing on this class
* of mines — the lode here, at a vertical depth of more than nine hun-
dred feet, carrying not only a much heavier body, but a higher grade
of ore than near the surface, its continuity having been preserved all
the way down. The ore from this mine yields only about seventeen
dollars per ton, the broad margin for profit arising out of its great
abundance, the pay matter varying from sixteen to twenty feet in thick-
ness, and from the facility with which it can be extracted and reduced,
the gold being found mostly in a free state. The profitable ore in sight
in this mine is estimated at seven hundred thousand dollars.
On this belt» lying both to the north and south of the Hayward
mine, are a number of claims that, through extensive exploration and
practical working for a series of years, have been proven to possess a
high value. Of these, the Keystone, near Amador city, owned by J.
W. Gashwiler, of San Francisco, and others, and which was opened
even earlier than the Hayward mine, is now yielding, under an exten-
sive system of working, very ample returns. In 1852 a five-stamp mill,
afterwards increased to twelve, was put up for crushing the rock from
this mine. In 1857 this mill was superseded by another of twenty
stamps, which, becoming much worn through long use, was in 1866
supplanted by another establishment of similar capacity, but of im-
proved model and build, which has since been running steadily and
with highly satisfactory results. The deepest working levels on this
lode are now three hundred and seventy-five feet beneath the surface, at
which point it is well waUed and carries a body of pay matter, varying
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA. "255
from three to twenty-five feet in width, the thickness here being some-
what irregular. For sometime prior to 1863 work was suspended on
this mine owing to the accumulation of water in its lower levels. Hav-
ing been lelieved of this bj the present management, the gross pro-
duct, has since been $600,000. The dividends for itoveral years past
have varied from $6,000 to $12,000 per month; the total nett earnings
disbursed to owners between October, 1866, and the middle of Janu-
ary, 1868, amounting to $212,000.
The other mines situated on this mineral range, noted for the marked
success that has attended their working throughout a number of years^
or for the prospective value that justly attaches to them, are the Enter-
prise, operating successfully with a ten-stamp water mill — ote averaging
seven dollars per Ion ; the Plymouth, working profitably a twenty-
stamp steam and water mill, the company having divided $20,000, on a
moderate investment, during the past five years ; the Potosi, with a
sixteen-stamp water mill, running steadily and making fair earnings ;
the Seaton, after a varied fortune, extending through several years,
during which dividends and assessments alternated in about equal pro-
portions, now a prosperous, well conducted mine, exhibiting a good
body of pay ores at a depth of four hundred and eighty feet, operating
on which the company have erected a forty-stamp mill, furnished with all
recent appliances and improvements — and in brief, the Italian, Loyal,
Bunker Hill, Amador, Stanford, Hubbard, Mahoney, Spring Hill,
Oneida, Wilder and Covey, with perhaps several others, all at present
in a productive condition, or likely soon to become so.
Lying within this belt, near its easterly edge, there are also many
promising quartz veins, some of which have been thoroughly explored,
and have for many years past been paying well, and in a few cases very
largely. The most of these mines are situated near the town of Vol-
cano, in the vicinity of which there are fourteen quartz mills, nearly all
now operating with success.
Li this and the adjacent districts there are also some hydraulic
claims being worked, though placer mining is not now, in any of its
branches, carried on extensively in this county, the gulch and river
diggings having been exhausted long ago.
The quartz mills now completed in Amador number f or<y-two, car-
rying six hundred and thirty-two stamps, the whole erected at an ori-
ginal cost approximating $750,000. Several of these mills are now run-
ning on the cement, or on the talcose slate and ochreous gossan found
at various points in the county, and as these deposits are extensive, it
seems probable that many others will be put up for the same purpose
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258 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA.
in the early future. The era of quartz mining and mill construction
was inaugurated at a very early period in this county — the first mill put
up on the old Amador mine in 1851 having been the second establish^
ment of the kind erected in the State. After encountering the viscis-
situdes incident 'to the business in its early stages elsewhere, vein
mining for gold is now firmly established as a profitable and permanent
pursuit in this county; which probably holds out as good inducements
for investing in this industiy as any other county in the State.
Lying on the eastern confines of Amador, a number of silver bearing
lodes were discovered some five or six years ago, but as none of them
were ever developed to a productive point, nothing definite is known as
to their value; though, owing to the great facilities that exist for reduc-
tion, a very low grade of ores could be worked there with profit^ did
they exist in abundance.
Copper, about the same time, was found in various parts of the
county; and although some of the veins proved exceedingly rich, at least
in their upper portions, this class was not generally of large size. The
problem of their permanency never having in any case been solved by
deep exploration, it would be premature to assign this metal, even pros-
pectively, a prominent place in the mineral staples of the county.
Marble of different varieties and good quality exists in many parts
of Amador; and also sandstone, the latter underlying a terrace-like hill^
being one of a series near the town of lone, composed chiefly of altern-
ate strata of clay and gravel, capped with trachyte. The upper part of
this bed of sandstone is in places so highly ferruginous as to form a
tolerable iron ore. It is now quarried for fencing and building pur-
poses, and may in the future be utilized in a more important way. The
clay strata above mentioned being composed of various colors, is also
dug out and turned to practical account by being ground and used for
paini
At Fiddletown, Yolcano, and at other places in the county, small
diamonds have frequently been picked up, some of them worth fifty or
sixty dollars in the California market They usually occur in the allu-
vial drift, and their finding thus far has been accidental, the miners
meeting with them^when washing down their sluices preparatory to
cleaning up. If this class would take the trouble to familiarize them-
selves with the appearance of the uncut diamond, it is believed many
more of these gems might be gathered, with no further trouble than
an increased attention while pursuing their ordinary vocation.
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COUNTIES OP OALIFOENLL V^ 257
ALPINE COUNTT.
This county, in view of its great altitude and the rugged and pre-
cipitous character of the mountains that cover nearly the whole of its
surface, has been altogether significantly and aptly named. Lying on
either side of the Sierra Nevada, it covers that range at one of its most
broken and lofty points; a rugged, and scarcely less elevated spur,
striking northerly from the main chain crossing its eastern border,
thereby rendering nearly the entire county one continuous mass of moun-
tains. Several peaks of the Sierra> within the limits of Alpine reach
a height of nearly eleven thousand feet; Silver mountain, the loftiest
portion of this northerly trending spur, being over ten thousand feet
high. Alpine is bounded on the northeast by the State of Nevada; on
the south by Mono and Tuolumne; on the west by Tuolumne, Calaveras
and Amador, and on the north by El Dorado county; its average length,
measured north and south, being forty and its breadth thirty-eight miles.
This county is well watered, the portion lying east of the Sierra being
cut in every direction by the two main forks of Carson river and their
numerous tributaries, the Stanislaus and the Mokelumne both having
their head waters within its limits. Forming the sources of those sev-
eral streams are numerous small lakes, the most of them situated on
the summit of the mountain, where it spreads out into a sort of table
land. Many of them are very wild and beautiful, being skirted by belts
of grass or bordered by plats of lawn-like meadow lands. In some
instances they are destitute of these grassy surroundings, being closely
hemmed in by dark forests or shadowed by impending cliffs of granite.
Two of their number, situated near each other, and from this circum-
stance and the cerulean hue imparted to their waters by their great
depth, named the Twin Blue Lakes, constitute the head fountains of
several laige streams that make their way westward into the Pacific;
while, in close proximity, are the sources of the Carson, flowing east-
ward to be swallowed up in the great deserts of Nevada. Some of
these lakes are shallow, while others^ as we have seen, have a great
depth; and being fed by the melting snows, never tarnished at these
great altitudes, are always wondrously clear and pure, rendering them
the acceptable abode of the coy and delicious mountain trout. They
all contain fish, and being as well the resort of wild fowl during the
summer, they form at this season a favorite haunt for the hunter and
angler.
There are also in this county many grassy, well watered valleys,
rendered the more attractive by their rugged and desolate surround-
17
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258 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CAIIFOBMIA.
ings. Into these the herdsman from either side driye their cattle for
pasturage during the summer, removing them as winter approaches,
the snows in the higher of these valleys always falling to an immense
depth. Owing to the great altitude of the county, and the limited
amount of good land it contains, but few attempts are made at culti-
vating the land, except in the way of raising vegetables, of which, as
well as of milk, butter and hay, enough are produced for home con-
sumption. The quantity of land enclosed does not exceed ten or twelve
thousand acres, the amount sown to grain not being over a thousand or
fifteen hundred. Barley, with irrigation, often yields well, though not
being ready for the sickle till the month pf September. Most kinds of
berries and a few' hardier fruits have been found to thrive here, wild
currents and several species of berries being indigenous to the country.
Flax and tobacco are also natives of the soil, and many varieties of
wild flowers flourish during the short period of summer.
There being little occasion for grist mills none have ever boon erected
in the county. Neither have any water ditches been constructed, other
than a few of small capacity designed for irrigating purposes. There are,
however, thirteen saw mills, some of them of lai^e capacity ; lumber-
ing in its various branches being, next to mining, the most important
interest in the county. Apart from the lumber made for supplying
local wants, many thousand saw logs and several thousand cords of fire
wood are annually cut along the banks of the east fork of Carson river,
and floated down that stream for supplying the large steam saw mill at
Empire City, and the immense demand for fuel created by the ore mills
working the Comstock ores. Alpine abounds in spruce and pine forests,
the timber on the higher Sierra being of large size, while that on the
eastern slope and beyond is of inferior quality.
The great active interest in this county is, however, and always will
continue to be, vein mining, upon the success of which it must mainly
depend for whatever advancements it may make in wealth and pros-
perity.
The citizens of Alpine have evinced a commendable zeal in the con-
struction of wagon roads, several of which have been built at great
expense, connecting the more populous districts with Carson and Walk-
er river valleys; and also others, at still heavier cost^ across the Sierra
leading into California.
Beside Silver Mountain, the county seat, with a population of three
hundred, Alpine contains several other small towns and mining ham-
lets, of which, Markleeville, having about four hundred inhabitants, is
the principal Mogul, and Monitor, are the centers of two important
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA. 259
mining districts situated near the east fork of Carson, the latter having
a population of two or three hundred. The entire population of the
county numbers about twelve hundred.
The mines of Alpine consist almost wholly of argentiferous lodes,
though a few gold bearing veins and masses of quartz have been found,
some of them of great richness, in the Mogul district The ledges here
are usually of large size and crop boldly, being often traceable for miles
by their surface projections. While a vast amount of work has been
expended upon them in a small way, but little exploratory labor of a
thorough and systematic kind has been performed, consequently, scarcely
a single prominent mine in the county has been fully proven. Several
have been developed to a point of limited production, but not until
greater depths shall have been reached can the question of their ore
yielding capacity and intrinsic value be fuUy settled. Owing to the
tremendous upheavals of this region the lodes here, though often strong
and compact in their surface developements, are probably deep fissured,
while in many cases they are found to have suffered much displacement
and disturbance in their upper portions.
Should they prove persistent in depth, and continue to carry ores of
no higher grade than are found near the surface, the veins here could
generally be worked with profit, owing to their immense size and the
unsurpassed facilities that everywhere exist for the economical extrac-
tion and reduction of their ores. Running in most cases across the
tops^ or along the slopes of precipitous mountains, they can be opened
to great depths by comparatively short adit levels driven in from the
base. For example, the Mountain ledge, running parallel with and near
the crest of the high ridge overlooking the county seat, has been opened
to a vertical depth of necurly twelve hundred feet below its croppings by
means of a tunnel scarcely more than fourteen hundred feet in length,
there being many other lodes in the district equally well situated for
deep exploration.
In regard to supplies of wood, whether required for fuel or lumber,
and also of water, whether to be used for propelling machinery or other
purposes, Alpine is almost without a rival on either the California or
Kevada side of the Sierra. Three fourths of the county is heavily tim-
bered with spruce and pine, and more than ten thousand stamps might
be driven by the water power here found convenient to the principal
mines. With such advantages the working of the ores of this region
could be made highly remunerative, even should they prove of low
grade, were they only abundant and tolerably tractable. Tested by
assay they have not generally indicated great richness, though several
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260 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIPOBNLL
extensive working trials have given fair and, in a few instances, large
results. From the IXL lode, situated on Scandanavian canon, two
miles northwest of Silver mountain, one hundred tons of ore were, a
year since, extracted and sold to the neighboring millmen at the rate of
$100 per ton, delivered at the mouth of the tunnel. From divers small
lots of this ore, sent to San Francisco for reduction, a sum total of
$40,000 has been extracted. From the Tarshish lode, located near the
town of Monitor, a large quantity of high grade ore has been raised,
and from the number of rich pockets that have been found in this mine
at no great depths, it is inferred that larger and equally rich deposits
will occur at lower levels.
The ores from this mine having been found intractable to the amal-
gamating process, furnaces have been erected for treating them by
smelting — a mode that will probably have to be employed upon a large
proportion of the contents of other mines in the county, much trouble
having heretofore been experienced in their management. Should this
prove to be the case, fuel is f ortimately in such ample supply as to ren-
der reduction by this method everywhere practicable.
There are three quartz mills in the county — one at Markleeville, and
two near Silver mountain, — ^the whole carrying twenty-six stamps, and
costing about $100,000. Smelting works, on a limited scale, have also
been put up at Monitor for reducing the ores of the Tarshish mine,
and which, should it prove successful, will probably be followed by the
erection of similar establishments elsewhere in the county.
CALAVERAS COUNTY.
This county, which derives its name from the Calaveras river run-
ning centrally through it, is bordered by Amador on the northwest, by
Alpine on the northeast^ by Tuolumne on the southeast, and by Stanis-
laus and San Joaquin counties on the southwest. The Mokelumne river
separates it from Amador, and the Stanislaus river from Tuolumne
county. It has an average length of forty miles, with a width of about
twenty; and in everything that relates to topography, soil, climate,
mines, agricultural and other natural productions, is almost the coun-
terpart of Amador county. Bear mountain, a rocky, wooded range, a
little more than two thousand feet high, strikes northerly across the
middle of the county, from the Stanislaus to the Calaveras river, divi-
ding this central portion into two sections; the lower, composed of
abrupt foot-hiUs that gradually subside into low, rolling prairies, as
they stretch west towards the great San Joaquin valley, while the upper
grows more rugged and broken as it extends eastward into the main
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA. 261
Sierra. The former includes the copper mining district, as well, also,
as many yaluable quartz lodes, together with the gossan deposits of
Quail Hill an^ Iron mountain. Placer mining is profitably conducted
at a number of localities within this belt, which, from an early period,
has been noted for its rich surface diggings. The easterly section is,
however, the present theatre of more active operations in quartz, there
being within its limits a large population engaged in this business.
The upper and steeper slopes of the foot-hills are covered with scat-
tered groves of oak, interspersed with an inferior species of pine, buck-
eye, manzanita, and other shrubby trees. Large patches are covered
wholly with the chamiza^ an evergreen shrub with a delicate leaf,
which, seen from afar, gives to the mountains a beautifully^ark
umbrageous appearance. These foot-hills are without running streams
in the summer, and, although covered in many places with an extremely
rich soil, and affording a considerable amount of grass, are but indiffer-
ent stock ranges, owing to their aridity. With the exception of the
Calaveras, wholly diverted from its bed during the dry season for irri-
gation and mining purposes, there is in the summer no water but such
as may be found in springs and standing pools, or as is furnished by
artificial means, between the Stanislaus and Mokelumne rivers^ a dis-
tance of twenty-five miles. Nearly the whole of the county, however,
except the southern extremity, is well supplied with water through an
elaborate system of canals; which, obtaining tlieir principal supplies
from the Stanislaus and Mokelumne rivers and their branches, conduct
this element to all the leading mining camps, where it is employed, not
only for hydraulic and sluice washing, but to a considerable extent
also for the propulsion of machinery. There aie sixteen of these
canals^ varying in length from seven to fifty miles, and in cost of con-
struction from $10,000 to 1350,000; the largest and most expensive in
the county, that of the Union Water Company, having cost the latter
sum.
A good deal of money has been expended by the citizens of Cala-
veras in the construction of wagon roads, with which all parts of the
county are well supplied. Towards the building of the Big Tree and
Carson Valley road, leading over the Sierra, the people of the county,
at their general election in 1863, voted an appropriation of $25,000;
on which occasion a further sum of $50,000 was voted for subscrip-
tion to the capital stock of the Stockton and Copperopolis railroad.
Lumbering is carried on here to a moderate extent, there being ten
saw-mills in. the county. All but three are driven by steam, and sev-
eral have a capacity to make between twenty-five and thirty thousand
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262 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALTPORIOA.
feet of lumber daily. There are a number of small iron foundries,
tanneries, and similar establishments in the county, but manufactur-
ing generally is not largely engaged in.
Agriculture, viniculture, and stockraising receive a good deal of
attention in Calaveras, many portions of the foot-hills being well suited
to the growth of the cereals ; while in the valleys along the streams
and in the mountains, a wide variety of fruits, berries, and vegetables
find a congenial home. In the year 1867 there were about 70,000 acres
of land enclosed, of which nearly one half was under cultivation, the
principal grains raised being wheat and barley. The assessment roll
for the same year footed up nearly $2,000,000, exclusive of mines.
The population of Calaveras is estimated at 14,000, of whom a large
proportion, fully one sixth, are Chinamen. Nearly all of these people,
as well as two thirds of the whites, are engaged in mining, this being
the leading pursuit of the inhabitants.
Mokelumne Hill, the county seat, situated near its territorial centre,
contains about twelve hundred inhabitants. The rich placers once
found in its vicinity are now pretty well exhausted, still there are
many claims being worked in the deep banks and flats near by, some
of which continue to yield liberally and will last for many years to come.
San Andreas, with a population of twelve hundred, one third of them
Chinamen, is located ten miles southwest of the county seat, from which
it does not materially differ in its surroundings. Some rich gold bear-
ing quartz and cement mines have been discovered within a few miles of
the town, for the crushing of which several mills have been erected ;
and, judging from the favorable results thus far obtained, there is little
doubt but others will shortly follow.
In the vicinity of West Point, a prosperous and growing mining
town seventeen miles east of Mokelumne Hill, there is a broad scope
of exceedingly rich quartz veins, and also deposits of auriferous gravel
which promise to furnish profitable hydraulic mining for years. Exten-
sive crushings made of the quartz obtained from lodes at Bailroad
Flat, and other localities in the neighborhood of West Point, establish
for this a high character as a quartz mining section, the yield ranging
from twenty to one hundred dollars per ton, very much of it exceeding
fifty dollars to the ton.
Vallecito, Jenny Lind, and Campo Seco, each with a popidation
of between three and five hundred ; Clay's Bar and Chile Gulch, with
a population of three hundred each, and Kich Gulch, with scarcely so
many, are all in the midst of placer diggings, once extremely rich, and
some of which still continue to pay fair wages. There is also consid-
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COUNTIES OF CALIFORNIA. 263
erable attention being paid in some of these districts to the business
of quartz mining, additions being constantly made to the mills now in
operation. Railroad Flat, Altaville, Fourth Crossing, Poverty Bar,
Bobinson's Ferry, and Musquito, are all mining hamlets, with from fifty
to two hundred inhabitants residing in and immediately about them,
and surrounded with mines similar in character, though generally of
less extent to those in the vicinity of the larger towns just described.
Angelas Camp, twenty miles south of the county seat, containing
about six hundred inhabitants, is one of the earliest settled towns in
the county. Growing suddenly up under the support afforded by the
rich placers about it, and flourishing for many years, it gradually
declined as the diggings around it became impoverished, until the
inhabitants, ten years ago, amounted to scarcely one half their present
number. After languishing in this reduced condition for several years>
the surface placers nearly exhausted and property depreciated to mere
nominal prices, the attention of the mining public began to be attracted
to the business of opening and working the quartz veins that abound
in the neighborhood. The early efforts directed to this end were not,
however, more successful here than elsewhere in the State, much fruit-
less experimenting having been made and much money spent before
these first endeavors were rewarded with even a moderate degree of
success. At length, however, this interest has been placed upon a
permanent and prosperous footing ; and although the average yield of
the ore here is not large, only from six to ten dollars to the ton, the
mills, of which there are five near the town, are all being run with
profit ; the earnings of one or two, working a higher grade of ore than
the average, being quite large.
As an example of what the better class of mines, when well man-
aged, are able to accomplish at this camp, we instance that of the
Bovee claim, which, aided by a ten stamp mill, turned out $44,528 for
the ten months ending with January Ist, 1868, the total expenditures
on accotmt of this \production, including some of an extraordinary
character, having been $25,512. This lode is now opened to a vertical
depth of one hundred and fifty feet ; having increased steadily in vol-
ume from the surface down, the ores undergoing, at the same time, a
corresponding improvement, having advanced from an average yield of
fifteen dollars on top to over twenty dollars at present working depths.
And as the same general experience has attended the development and
working of other veins in the vicinity, it is inferred that they will all
yield a much higher grade, and a larger amount of ore, when more
considerable depths are attained.
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264 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOKNIA.
Under the stimulus of this new interest, Angels Camp has during
the past few years not only advanced in population, but has exhibited
other marked evidences of improvement, many cottages having been
erected by the miners, who find employment in the service of the
quartz companies, and much planting of trees and vines having been
practiced, to the beautifying and enrichment of the place. These
remarks, while they apply with peculiar force to Angels, might be
employed with more or less truth in speaking of Murphy's Camp, and
several other towns in the county, including most of those already
alluded to. '
Carson Hill, justly styled by Professor Whitney, because of its
early fame, the classic miniTig ground of California, lies five miles
southwest of Angels Camp, looking down from its lofiy eminence upon
the dark waters of the Stanislaus, fiowing more than a thousand feet
below. From no space of equal dimensions, perhaps, in the State has
more gold been taken out than from the Morgan ground, the discovery
claim on this hill ; the sum extracted, with simple appliances and at
small expense, between the time of its discovery, in 1850, and the year
1858, having approximated $2,000,000; the amount taken from the
Madam Martinez claim, near by, and under nearly similar circum-
stances, having been over $1,000,000 during a period of less than three
years. The total amount of bullion obtained from this hill is estimated
at over $4,000,000, though the working of most of the claims, of which
there are a number besides the above, have been greatly interfered
with by injudicious management and vexatious litigation.
At Frankfort, formerly Cat Camp, in the vicinity of Camanche, an
old mining town of about four hundred inhabitants, situated twenty*
two miles southwest of the county seat, there were discovered in the
summer of 1867 a great extent of surface placers, which it was believed
from carefvd prospecting would pay fair wages. A branch ditch having
been completed in December of that year, carrying water into this dis-
trict, a population of several hundred previously attracted to it were
washing with good average results during the following winter and
spring, with a prospect of having remunerative work before them for a
number of years.
Copperopolis, the business center of the rich and extensive copper
mines in this county, is situated twenty-eight miles southwest of Mokel-
umne Hill. Its present population is about eight hundred, somewhat
less than it was a few years since, when operations were much more
active than they have been of late. The town, having suffered severely
from fire nearly two years ago, has not since been fully rebuilt, though
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBNIA. 265
there is little doubt but it will nou only regain its former full propor-
tions, but much enlarge the same, as well as experience a restoration
of its former business activity, when the prices of copper ores shall
have recovered from their present extreme depression.
Telegraph Ciiy, situated on the Stockton road, six miles west of Cop-
peropolis, and on the more westerly and least important of the two
cupriferous belts extending north and south across the county, contains
about two hundred inhabitants; its population and business having
experienced a material falling off during the past two years, from the
same causes that have operated to the detriment of its more advanced
neighbor.
Of the cupriferous deposits on these twin ranges, separated by Salt
Spring valley, it may suffice in this place to say, the average of ores
obtained have been of very fair grade, ranging at first, as sent to market,
from fifteen to tweniy-five per cent., and latterly from twelve to fifteen
per cent, of metal. While none of these veins can be said to have been
sufficiently proven to establish their j)ermanency beyond contingency,
it is well settled that many of them, though rich in metal, are mere lenti-
cular masses of no great magnitude, and consequently of but little
value. That others, however, will be found more persistent, hardly
admits of a question, shafts having been simk on a number of them to
the depth of several hundred feet, without serious displacements or con-
tractions in the vein matter being encountered. At one time, during
the heat of the excitement that sprang up soon after the discovery ol
these mines, they were sold freely at rates varying from $500 to $2,000
per linear foot. At present, owing to their unproductive condition,
the best of them are without any certain value in the mining share mar-
ket, a state of things that it is believed, cannot be of long continu-
ance.
A few years since a bed of opals was discovered in Stockton Hill,
an eminence near the county seat, from which a French company, claim-
ing and working the same, have since extracted a large number of these
stones, some of them said to be of considerable value. It does not
appear that the precious opal has yet been found here, though experts
and geologists are of the opinion that these gems will be met with when
the stratum is more fully explored.
One of the greatest curiosities in California, and, indeed, of its kind
in the world, consists of the Big Tree grove, situated on the divide
between the middle fork of the Stanislaus and the Calaveras river,
about twenty miles east of Mokelumne Hill, and at an elevation of four
thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine feet above the level of the sea.
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266 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
The nmnber of these trees, a species of redwood bearing the botanical
name of the Seqxwia GiganteOy is ninety-two, ten of which are at least
thirty feet in diameter ; eighty-two having a diameter varying from
fifteen to thirty feet Their height, as they now stand, ranges from one
hundred and fifty to three hundred and twenty-seven feet, the tops of
many of the more aged having been broken off by the tempests or snow.
The original height of some is believed to have been over four hun-
hundred and fifty feet, and their diameter at least forty feet Through
the prostrate trunk of one of these trees, which has been hollowed out
by fire, a man can ride on horseback for a distance of seventy-five feet
Some years ago one of the largest of the number then standing was cut
down, with a view to secure transverse sections of the trunk for exhi-
bition. It was ninety-two feet in circumference and three hundred feet
high, and it required the constant labor of five men for twenty-two days
to fell it — the work being accomplished by means of boring with long
augers. At the same time, another tree of nearly equal dimensions,
was stripped of its bark for a disf^ce of one hundred and sixteen feet
from the ground, a lofty staging having been erected about it for the
purpose. The bark was taken off in longitudinal sections, which being
afterwards replaced in their proper order, reproduced the exterior of
this giant of the forest — ^having much the appearance that it presented
while growing. Such was the wonderful vitality of this tree that many
of the branches still continued green for seven or eight years after
this extensive mutilation.
By carefully counting the concentric rings, denoting the annual
growth of these trees, their age is found to vary from one thousand two
hundred to two thousand five hundred years. In some places these
trees are separated by spaces of several rods, while in others they stand
quite close together, some being united at the roots, and having grown
almost into one, which, when they first sprouted, were twenty or thirty
foet asunder.
The Sequoia Gigantea has two sets of leaves — the one small and
shaped something like those of the spruce or hemlock, and the other
shorter and of triangular form, the cones being scarcely larger than a
hen's egg. The bark is very much like that of the cedar family, and
is generally from six to eighteen inches thick, according to the age of
the tree. The wood in nearly every particular, except odor, resembles
red cedar.
The Calaveras grove, though really one of the most remarkable,
and, from its accessibility, by far the most frequented, is not the only
one in this State, there being three groups of Big Trees in Mariposa,
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IX)XJNTIES OP CALIPOBNIA. 267
one in Tuolumne, and another in Tulare county, with, perhaps, others
not jet discovered in the adjacent but less explored portions of the
Sierra Nevada.
TUOLUMNE COUNTY.
As we proceed south along the great mineral belt, the counties fur-
ther north, mostly of limited area, begin, after passing Calaveras, to
increase in size — ^Tuolumne having an average length of sixty with a
width of thirty-five miles. It lies between Calaveras and Alpine on
the north, and Mariposa on the south, and between Mono on the east
and Stanislaus and Calaveras on the west In its topography and pro-
ductions it is so nearly assimilated to the mining counties further north,
already gone over, as to require little more to be said on these points.
The Stanislaus river separates this county from Calaveras on the
northwest, the south and middle forks of that stream and the Tuol-
umne with its branches running across the coonty in a southwesterly
course, cutting it with numerous deep canons. Both these rivers, as
well as many of their confluents, carry heavy bodies of water at all
seasons of the year; and, heading high up in the Sierra Nevada, become,
when swollen by sudden rains or the melting of the summer snows,
large and rapid streams, rising often in the mountain gorges to an
immense height above crdinary stages, and overflowing their banks,
after they have descended into the plains.
This county has been pronounced by the State Geological Survey
one of the richest fields for scientific study to be found in the State ;
more of the remains of the mastodon, elephant, and other large ani-
mals being found in the district northwest of Columbia than in any
other locality in California, with the exception of Kincaid Flat At
Texas Flat there is a vast accumulation of calcareous tufa formed over
the auriferous gravel, in an ancient gulch emptying into the Stanislaus,
when that river was at a much higher level than at present This same
formation occurs on the bank of the Stanislaus, where it rises in pictur-
esque cavernous cliffs resembling coral reefs. In this tufa are found
the bones and teeth not only of the above gigantic animals, but also of
the horse and other mammalia, together with land and fresh water
shells.
One of the most striking features in the topography and geology of
this county is fhe ** Table Mountain," masses of basaltic lava with
perpendicular sides and flat on the top, which extend for a distance of
nearly thirty miles with their windings. The top of this mountain is
elevated about two thousand feet above the Stanislaus river, near which
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268 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNLL
it runs a good part of the distance, this stream frequently breaking
through it. It varies in width from twelve hundred to eighteen hun-
dred feet ; the basaltic mass forming the Table Mountain proper being
^bout one hundred and fifty feet thick. This portion, which has per-
pendicular sides, stands on a deep bed of detrital matter that slopes
from its base down to the river or the country adjacent.
The space occupied by this wall-like mountain was once the channel
of an ancient river having precipitous banks. At a point on the latter
where this formation begins, a stream of lava ejected from a neighbor-
ing volcano entered it, and flowing steadily jdown filled it full. The
country along the banks of this stream, consisting doubtless at that
period of high mountain ranges, has since been eroded by the action
of the elements and all washed away, leaving this mountain, composed
of more solid matter, standing in the condition we now find it. What
strengthens the presumption that these singular formations occupy
the beds of former rivers, is the fact that the bed rock beneath them
is water worn, after the manner of fluvial action, and contains rich
deposits of washed gold ; many of the best paying mines in the county,
consisting of these old channels, are now regularly worked by an elab-
orate system of shafts and tunnels.
Although the leading pursuit of this county is mining, it contains
many small, well tilled farms, together with fruitful gardens, orchards
and vineyards — Tuolumne being distinguished for the excellence and
abundance of its fruits and grapes.
The amount of land enclosed was estimated in 1867 at thirty-flve
thousand acres, of which about twelve thousand were under cultiva-
tion— all the cereals usually raised in California being planted- Much
stock is also kept in this county, the dairy products being ample for
every home demand.
Lumbering is also extensively carried on, large quantities of sawed
timber and shingles, after the local consumption is met, being annually
sent to Stockton for a market. There are sixteen saw mills in the
county, seven of which are driven by water and nine by steam. Their
cost has varied from two thousand to twenty thousand dollars each,
several having capacity to cut eight thousand feet of lumber daily.
A number of costly roads have been built in Tuolumne, towards
the construction of which the county has in some instances lent its
corporate assistance. One of these roads extends across the Sierra
to Mono county, and being the shortest wagon route between tide
water and the Esmeralda mining region, is likely to command consider-
able travel hereafter. Already it has served as a convenient channel
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COUNTIES OP CALEFORNIA. 269
for transporting the fruits and surplus farming products of Tuolumne
to the mining towns and camps east of the mountains, where they
always command a ready sale at remunerative prices.
Tuolumne contains a population of about fifteen thousand, of whom
a considerable portion are Chinamen. Sonora, the county seat, num-
bers about two thousand five hundred inhabitants. The place was
first settled in the summer of 1848 by a company of miners from
Sonora, Mexico — ^hence the name. So rapidly did it grow in conse-
quence of the extremely rich placers found around it, that in a little
more than one year it contained nearly five thousand inhabitants.
Sonora has suffered its full share from conflagrations, the greater por-
tion of it having been several times destroyed by fire. For many
years past the mines in the vicinity have been considerably depleted,
yet it still continues to be the base of supply for a large circle of
mining country about it.
The town of Columbia, four miles north of Sonora, and containing
a little more than half the population of the latter, is surrounded by
a similar character of mines, and has a history not very unlike that of
its neighbor, though not settled for nearly a year and a half later.
Shaw's Flat and Springfield are small towns between Sonora and
Columbia, having an aggregate population of three or four hundred.
Jamestown, a hamlet of several hundred inhabitants, five miles south
of the county seat, was early settled, and for several years was the
center of an exceedingly prolific placer district. In the neighborhood
extensive tunnels have been driven under Table Mountain, overlooking
it from the north.
Montezuma, Chinese Camp, Jacksonville, Tuttletown, Gold Spring,
Poverty Hill, Big Oak Flat^ and Garote, have all been in their day
mining towns of note, containing from five hundred to one thousand
inhabitants, and some of them for a short time many more. They
have nearly aD, however, declined, as the diggings about them grew
poorer, until some have not now half their former population. With
the discovery of quartz they are generally beginning to revive, and it
IB not improbable that many will, in the course of a few years, contain
even a greater number of inhabitants and become more prosperous
than before.
Connected with the early history of these towns, as well also as
with that of various smaller places in the county, are many strange
and tragic events, the original population of this region having been
largely made up of rough and desperate characters collected from all
parts of the world. Hither flocked the people of Spanish origin,
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270 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
adventurers who had spent their lives on the southern and western
frontiers, and hither swarmed the gamblers and men of desperate for-
tunes from every land under the sun ; the very character of the dig-
gings, rich beyond example, but less certain than elsewhere, natu-
rally serving to attract these classes to this quarter. A record of the
rich strikes, the popular tumults, the deadly aflOrays, the executions
without law, and the murders without punishment, that occurred dur-
ing these early times, would fill a large volume. All those excitements
— those exhibitions of private vengeance and popular passion — those
scenes of ferocity, violence and crime, that have given California such
unenviable notoriety, found here their most frequent and forcible
illustration. Yet, notwithstanding these scenes of turbulence and crime,
and the many unhappy events connected with the primitive history of
this country, the present inhabitants of Tuolumne are not, perhaps,
in the matter of social and moral standing, behind any other commu-
nity in the State.
Placer mining, except as performed by hydraxdic washing, or through
shafts and tunnels reaching into the ancient river channels and gravel
beds, is not now extensively practiced in this county. By the above
means, however, as well as by a considerable amount of surface wash-
ing performed in certain localities during the winter, large quantities
of gold are annually taken out ; and as the bank diggings are in many
places very deep, and the auriferous gravel of great probable extent,
this branch of mining seems likely to be pursued here for an indefinite
period, and with at least moderately good results.
Among the quartz lodes that have from time to time been signalized
by unwonted success, is the Soulsby claim, near Sonora, which, several
years ago was conspicuous in this respect. A multitude of ledges are
now being worked along the auriferous belt that crosses the county,
generally with fair, and often with munificent returns. There are now
forty-eight quartz mills in operation, carrying five hundred and forty
stamps — the whole erected at an aggregate cost of about $550,000.
Situated on the mother lode, stacking across the westerly end of this
county, are a number of quartz claims, that, tested by a successful expe-
rience of several years, may justly claim to rank among the leading
mines of the county if not also of the State. In this catagory stands
the Rawhide Ranch claim, lying on the west side of Table Mountain,
a few miles west of Sonora. The lode, having an average width of
twelve feet, has been explored to a depth of about three hundred feet
by a main shaft, from the bottom of which drifts have been run nearly
one hundred feet, disclosing in this level a heavy compact mass, of
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COUNTIES OP CALIFOBNIA. 271
tein matter. A well appointed twenty-stamp mill has been running
on the ores, which, daring the past three years, have varied in their
yield from seven to forty-four dollars per ton. Connected with the
mine is a tract of five hundred acres of partially timbered land.
One mile south of Jamestown, also situated on the great crowning
vein of the county, and covering what seems to be one of its more
enriched portions, is the Dutch mine, so called from the nationality of
the former owners, and by whom it was sold to M. B. Silver, the pres-
ent proprietor. On the surface it is composed of four parallel veins,
all of which, from their proximity and angle of pitch, it is thought
will finally unite in one masterly lode. The mine, though not exten-
sively developed, has been sufficiently prospected to establish its per-
manency and great probable value ; the uniform yield of the ore, of
which the quantity is very large, having been fifteen dollars to the ton,
the gold being free and easily saved by the most simple and inexpen-
sive methods. The ores have been worked for five years past with a
ten-stamp mill ; a much larger establishment being required to render
even a tithe of the productive capacities of this mine available.
The App mine, adjoining that last described on the south, and
differing but little from it in its main features, has been worked for
the past nine years with uniformly good results. During this time nine
thousand tons of ore were crushed, yielding $140,000, or an average of
$15 60 per ton — the cost of mining and milling having been about
$67,000.
From the Golden Rule mine, lying a few miles south of the App
claim, there were raised during the year 1866, three thousand tons of ore,
which yielded $32,654 having been at the rate of $10 75 per ton. The
quantity of ore taken out and reduced the following year, at the com-
pany's mill, was three thousand two hundred and forty-four tons, which
yielded $38,868 — ^nearly $12 per ton — ^the cost of mining and milling
having been less than $7 per ton. Five dividends were made during
1867, of $1,450 each, the company having, in January, 1868, a surplus in
bank of $11,000, to be applied to construction account.
Tuolumne has within its limits six main trunk water ditches, vary-
ing in length from seven to one hundred miles. Several of these are \^
works of magnitude, and required the expenditure of large sums of
money im their construction. The Big Oak Flat canal, forty miles long,
cost over $600,000 ; the ditch of the Tuolumne County Water company,
but thirty-five miles long, having cost $550,000. The distributing
branches of these canals have an aggregate length far exceeding that
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272 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOIIXLL
of the mains themselves, and also called for heavy expenditures in their
construction.
Two miles north of Columbia are extensive beds of marble. It is
of many varieties — some pure white, others blue, veined, clouded or
pencilled : and all, where taken from a few feet beneath the surface, of
a fine, close texture. Large quantities have been quarried and sent to
market, having previously been sawed into slabs at a mill near by,
erected for the purpose. Such is the compactness of the material, and
the depth of the beds, that blocks of any desired size can be taken out
— one weighing thirteen thousand pounds having been quarried and
dressed.
Near Sonora there is a deposit of plumbago, from which it is thought
a merchantable article of graphite may be obtained, at least in limited
quantities, by carefully washing it to relieve it of its earthy impuri-
ties. Some of it is said to have already met with sale in markets
abroad, being bought, most likely, for manufacturing crucibles, stove
blacking, or similar purposes.
Becently a stratum of soap stone has been found near Sonora, said
to be well adapted for the lining of smelting works. The deposit is
abundant, and promises to be extensively worked — the trials of this
material which have been made having proved satisfactory.
MARIPOSA COUNTY.
This county received its name from an extensive Mexican grant,
called "Las Mariposas," lying within its limits at the time of its crea-
tion, then claimed by, and since confirmed by the United States gov-
ernment to John C. Fremont. Mariposa is a Spanish word, signifying
a butterfly in that language. This county is bounded by Tuolumne on
the north, by Mono on the east, by Fresno on the south, and by Mer-
ced on the west. It measures sixty-five miles, east and west, and about
twenty-eight north and south — the eastern part rising into the lofty
Sierra, while the western sinks almost to a level with the San Joaquin
plains. Covering some of the wildest and highest portions of the great
snowy range, the scenery in the eastern section of the county is among
the grandest in the State. Here stands Mount Dana, 13,227 feet high;
Mount Hoflfman, 10,872 feet high, and Cathedral Peak, 11,000 feet high.
In this region the Merced, the San Joaquin, and the main fork of the
Tuolumne river take their rise, the former running centrally through
nearly the whole length of the county. The Chowchilla river, a small
stream in summer, being at this season nearly dry, separates Mariposa
from Fresno.
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COUNTIES OP CALIPOBNIA. 273
Throughout the mining districts, where most of the population is
found, there are many good wagon roads^ but none have been built lead*
ing over the Sierra — the only communication with Mono county being
afforded by a trail leading through the Mono Pass, the lowest point on
which is 10,765 feet high. This trail is much used by horsemen and
pack trains in the summer, being impassable at other seasons on
account of the snow.
The towns of Mariposa are neither large in size or number, many
of them having during the past ten years shrunken much from their
former proportions, and mining camps, once busy and populous, are
now nearly deserted. The number of inhabitants in the county, once
nine or ten thousand, does not at present much exceed half that num-
ber. The population of the principal towns may be set down at about
the following figures : Mariposa^ the coimty seat, 800 ; Homitos,
twenty miles to the northwest, 700 ; Coulterville, twenty-one miles
north of the county seat, 600; and Bear Valley, twelve miles northwest,
400. Princeton, Mount Bidlion, Indian Qxdch, Mount Ophir, Agua
Frio, Colorado, and Mormon Bar, are mining hamlets containing from
fifty to three hundred inhabitants each, some of these places having
fallen into almost hopeless decay through the utter exhaustion of the
once rich placers and the absence of quartz lodes in their vicinity;
while others, through the rejuvenating influence of quartz mining
operations prosecuted in their neighborhood, are slowly increasing in
business and population ; and there is much to warrant the belief that
many of these villages will experience a rapid growth, and others be
founded along the heavy quartz zone that crosses the county, at a
period not distant in the future.
All the eastern end of this coimty is heavily timbered with the sev-
eral varieties of pine, spruce, and cedar found further north ; the lower
half being more sparsely wooded, the extreme western section almost
without trees of any kind whatever. The coimty contains eight saw
mills, all of limited capacity, the quantity of lumber required for home
use being small, and none being made for transportation abroad.
Mariposa contains but comparatively little good farming land,
though there is a considerable scope of alluvial soil along the streams
in the edge of the foothills, and many small fertile valleys further in
the interior, which afford, under a careful system of cultivation, all
the fruits, vegetables, and dairy products required by the inhabitants,
there being also a good deal of barley, wheat, and oats raised every
year. Of the twenty-five thousand acres of land enclosed in the year
1867, about eight thousand were subjected to tillage, the yield of the
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274 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIA«
cereals being fully up to the average throughout the State. As yet
there has been no flour mill erected in this county, the mills in Mer-
ced, adjoining, being sufficiently near to accommodate the farmers of
Mariposa. There is but little stock kept here, and, although fruits of
all kinds thrive wherever planted, only enough is raised to serve local
wants.
The substantial wealth of Mariposa rests in its mines of auriferous
quartz, which are hardly second in point of number and productive
capacity to those of any other county in the State. Its placers even,
at first of but moderate extent, and belonging to the class denomi-
nated "spotted," speaking in miner's parlance, were, perhaps, in
places, among the most prolific ever found. Being rich, shallow, and
hence easily wrought, they naturally attracted that class, who, prone
to take desperate chances, are apt to exhibit more or less of the des-
perado in their every day conduct ; wherefore the character of the
early inhabitants of this region conformed strongly to that remarked
upon when speaking of the pioneer settlers of Tuolumne county.
Theft, murder, and general lawlessness and crime, during the early day,
here reigned supreme. But the social atmosphere has become purged
of these elements of violence — death, penal law, and emigration to
more genial localities having long since wrought their effectual work,
Mariposa is now scarcely behind her neighbors in the matter of moral
purity and good order.
Owing to the speedy depletion of the shallow placers and the lack
of extensive bank diggings and gravel beds, but little hydraulic wash-
ing or tunneling has been practiced in this county ; and, as a conse-
quence, but few canals or water ditches, the necessary auxiliaries to
this branch of mining, have been constructed. The entire length of
these works does not cover a linear extent of over foriy miles — ^the total
amount of money expended upon them in the county having been less
than $30,000. It is the opinion of very competent judges that there
are heavy banks of auriferous detritus^ as well as gravel deposits, in
Mariposa^ and that large and profitable workings might be afforded by
these were water for washing once introduced. Acting on this belief,
primary steps have been taken for the purpose of conducting this ele-
ment, of which there is an abundance, easily obtainable, into some of
the more promising placer districts.
Striking across the western extremity of this couniy, maintaining
its usual north-northwesterly and south-southeasterly bearings, the
Feta Madre of the great auriferous range of the State displays itself
with great power. On the Fremont grant, consisting of forty-eight
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COUNTIES OF CAUFORNLL 275
ihottsand acres, this lode is separated into two strong veins, known as
the Pine Tree and Josephine, which at points along the range unite
and form the crowning lode of the country.
The following exhibit of the yield obtained by a number of com-
panies engaged in raising and milling ores from this vein, being gen-
eral in its character, and spread over a considerable period, may, per-
haps, be accepted as safe data in calculating the results that would be
likely to attend the working of claims situated elsewhere on this lode :
The Mariposa Company own four mills of the following capacity, viz :
the Benton, sixty-four stamps ; the Mariposa, fifty stamps ; the Prince-
ton, twenty-eight stamps, and the Bear Valley, ten stamps. They are
all well appointed establishments, the first driven by water and the
others by steam. They are situated near the mines of the company,
which consist of the Josephine, Pine Tree, Mount Ophir, Mariposa,
and Princeton, all on the mother lode, and capable of supplying, under
present developments, two hundred tons of ore daily ; though the
quantity might easily be increased to three or four thousand, such is
tlie body of pay matter carried by these veins.
Under former management, running through several years, during
which the ores from the Josephine and Pine Tree lodes were exten-
sively worked, the gross average yield obtained was but about eight
and a half dollars per ton, a sum — as labor and material were then
rather more costly them at present, that left but small margin for profit.
Since this property passed into other hands, a new mode of amalgama-
tion, known as the "Eureka process," having been adopted at the
Bear Valley mill, the following results were obtained ; eight hundred
tons of ore from the Josephine mine, which before had proved of a
somewhat lower grade than that from the Pine Tree, worked by the
new method prior to September, 1867, gave an average yield of $40 63;
the average yield of one thousand tons for the following three months
having been $30 per ton — a rate, which it is thought, can hereafter be
steadily kept up. The company have since made arrangement for intro-
ducing this process into their other mills.
The Crown Lead company, owning no less than fourteen thousand
four hundred and fifty linear feet, all upon the main gold bearing belt,
and extremely well situated for easy development, have erected, at an
expense of $50,000, a tweniy-stamp mill and dam, their works being on
the Merced river, near which also their mine is located. Prior to their
coming into possession of this property, appurtenant to which is a tract
of six hundred acres of timber land, large sums were expended for the
purpose of prospecting the mine, the erection of a mill, etc. The most
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276 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA*
of this wort, however, having been injudiciously applied and the mill
having been swept away by a flood, the former owners accomplished
but little either in the way of developing their mine or working its ores.
Enough, however, has since been eflfected to establish for this property
a very high value, though active operations have for some time been
suspended upon it.
The Oakes and Beese mine, owned by Messrs. L. L. Bobinson and
Hall McAllister, of San Francisco, and lying on the same belt with the
claims of the Mariposa Company, is another of those mines, which, after
years of failure or but partial success, have, under a better administra-,
tion or in the hands of men of more ample means, been speedily con-
verted into highly productive properties. The lode now being worked,
one of eight owned by the proprietors, is from two to six feet thick, has
been thoroughly developed and powerful hoisting works have been
erected, and a ten-stamp mill, with driving power for a much larger
number, has been put up ; the total expenditure, exclusive of purchase
money for the mine, having been $110,000. The ore, of which there is
a heavy body, has thus far ranged from $20 to $40 per ton, the bullion
product for the month of January, 1868, having been $32,500.
Situated near the southeasterly line of the county, on the Merced
river, is the valley of the Tosemite, with its stupendous surroundings.
Here, within a space less than twenty miles long and ten miles wide,
are presented more picturesque, grand and beautiful scenery — ^more
striking and original views than are perhaps to be found within any
similar area in the world. If travelers may be credited, within no
other compass so narrow on the face of the globe, have so many high
and steep precipices, such lofty cascades and awful chasms^ such deep
and beautiful valleys overlooked by so many towering domes, high bas-
tions and splintered spires, all of bold and glistening granite, been
grouped together as in and around this valley of the Tosemite. The
name is of Indian origin, and should be pronoimced with four syllables,
accenting the second.
Geographically, this spot is said to be Teiy near ttie middle of tiie
State, measured north and south, and exactly in the center of the Sierra
Nevada, it being thirty-five miles to either base. It is one hundred and
forty miles, in a direct line, a little south of east from San Francisco;
the distance by the usually traveled route, via Stockton and CoulterviDe,
or Mariposa, being about two hundred and fifty miles. The vaDey
proper, which has an elevation of four thousand and sixty feet above
the level of the sea, is eight miles long and from half a mile to one
mile wide; the greatest breadth being near its middle, where it is three
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COUNTIES OF CALITORNU. 277
miles across, and whence it tapers gradually towards each end. It is
so nearly level that the Merced river, running through it, moves with a
gentle current, expanding at several points into little lakes, the water
so perfectly pure that it reflects the surrounding peaks and clifls with
wonderful distinctness. This river, at all seasons a considerable stream,
is greatly swollen in the latter part of the spring and the early summer,
when the snow on the mountains above is melting, which is, therefore,
the most favorable season for visiting the vaUey, as the several falls,
one of its chief attractions, are then displayed to best advantage.
Entering the valley at its lower or westerly end by a descent of two
thousand feet down a steep mountain trail, its course for the first six
miles is northeast, when it makes a sharp angle, and runs nearly south-
east At its lower extremity, the flat land ceasing, all semblance of a
valley is lost in a canon, so deep and precipitously walled that it may
be pronounced inaccessible. Proceeding up the valley, hemmed in by
walls of yellowish granite, from two thousand to four thousand feet
high, the first conspicuous object met with is the ** Pohono" — ^by some
called the Bridal Veil Fall, on the right hand side, with the Cathedral
Bock, about three thousand feet high, standing behind it On the
other side of the valley is the Tutucanula, or **E1 Capitan" cliJB^ an
almost perpendicular, bastion-like mass, lifting itself three thousand
three hundred feet above the level of the valley. Proceeding onward,
a little above the "Pohono" Fall, the Cathedral Bock, backed by the
Cathedral Spires — two slender columns of granite — ^is passed, and we
arrive, two miles above, at a group of peaks standing on the other side
of the valley, to which the name ** Three Brothers" has been given.
From the loftiest of these — ^four thousand feet high — ^more than eight
thousand feet above the level of the sea, is to be obtained one of the
best views of the valley and its immediate surroundings, including also
the towering summits of the Sierra, in the background.
Standing over against this group, and near the angle where the val-
ley, turning, trends to the southeast, is a cluster of prominent clifis,
the top of the highest three thousand feet above its base, and which,
from its having the form of a regular obelisk for more than a thousand
feet down, has been named " Sentinel Bock. " Three quarters of a mile
southeast of the Sentinel, stands the Dome, four thousand one himdred
and fifty feet high — ^its horizontal section nearly circular, and its slope
regular all round.
Directly across the valley from Sentinel Bock is the Yosemite Fall,
where a stream of the same name, twenty feet -wide and two deep at
high water, precipitates itself over the cli£^ falling at one bound a ver-
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278 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNLL
tical distance of one thousand five hundred feet, after which it makes,
"by a series of cascades, a further descent of six hundred and twenty-
six feet in the course of the third of a mile, when with a final bound
of four hundred feet, it leaps to the bottom of the valley — ^making in
this short distance a total descent of two thousand five hundred and
twenty-six feet — some calculations making it even a little more. Having,
however, in this instance, as in all other cases pertaining to heights and
distances in and around this valley, adopted the figures of the State
Geological Survey, the measurements given may safely be accepted as
being, if not absolutely correct, at least more nearly so them any others
extant.
Two miles above this fall the main valley of the Yosemite ends,
running into three deep gorges ; the central, through which flows the
Merced river, running nearly east and west, and the Tenaya fork bear-
ing to the north, while the valley of the Ulilouette, through which also
flows a considerable stream, ascends in a southerly direction.
Following up the Tenaya canon to a point a little above its mouth,
we have on the right, in full view, what has been for a long time par-
tially in sight, the most grand and impressive object in or aroimd the
valley. This consists of a fearful clifl^ four thousand seven hundred
and thirty-seven feet high, named the Half Dome — ^from the fact that
one face is rounded in form while the other is perfectly vertical, giving
the impression that one half of what was once a regular dome-shaped
mountain has been broken off and engulphed; which is no doubt really
the case, though there are no fragments on the surface at the base,
nor other ruins left to show what has become of this lost portion.
Without any compeer in mountain topography elsewhere, it stands iso-
lated and vast, a striking monument to some strange dynamic move-
ment, all other traces of which have been forever covered up.
On the opposite side of Tenaya valley stands the North Dome,
another rounded structure of granite, its summit elevated three thou-
sand five hundred and sixty-eight feet above its base. Flanking one
side of it is a vast buttress, called the Washington Column; and in the
sides of the cliff adjacent is a series of vaulted chambers, formed by the
sliding down of immense fragments of rock from above, named the
Boyal Arches. Further up the canon, reposing under the awful shadow
of the Half Dome, is a little lake called Tissayac, which, like all the
waters here, is ever cold and as pellucid as crystal.
Along the middle, or Merced canon, are several remarkable catar-
acts, as well as many lofty cliffs and peaks, some of the latter hardly
inferior in the majesty of their proportions to the Half Dome itself-^
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oomniES OF gaufobkta. 279
fhongh less xmiqne and impending. The two most noteworthy falls on
this stream, rendered exceedingly grand when the rirer is at high
stages, are the Vernal, or Puiyac, the lowest down, and the Nevada —
the former haying a perpendicular height of four hundred and seventy-
five feet, and the latter of six hundred and thirty-nine feet, the river
making a total descent of more than two thousand feet in a distance of
two miles.
There are also many grand cataracts and cascades on the Illilouette^
or South Fork, along which the scenery partakes largely of the same
bold character with that already described, though this branch has
been less explored than the main valley, or either of the others.
Scattered over the principal valley, as well as the lower slopes of
the mountains are groves of pine, mixed with which, in the valley, are
several species of oak, with some willow and poplar — ^the latter of the
kind usually called cottonwood — ^being what in the East is known as
the ''Balm of Gilead." These forests, abounding with grassy glades
and lakes, and being filled in summer with a variety of wild flowers,
the whole valley approximates nearer a scene of enchantment than
anything else to be found in nature.
The climate here in the winter is rigorous, the valley at this season
being almost completely shut out from the sun, and the snow falling so
deep on the trails leading into it as to render it difficult of access before
the middle of May. In the summer the atmosphere is kept cool by the
lakes and running water, and the spray from the falls — ^the sun, even at
this season, never shining on many parts of the valley.
Near Crane's Flat, thirty miles southeast of the town of Mariposa,
occurs another grove of Mammoth Trees^ similar to that in Cala-
veras county. This group contains four hundred and twenty-seven
trees» varying in size from twenty to thirty-four feet in diameter, and
from two hundred and seventy-five to three hundred and twenty-five
feet in height. This grove, which has an altitude of nearly six thousand
feet above the level of the sea, is scattered over an area of about five
hundred acres. The remains of a prostrate tree, now nearly consumed
by fire, indicate that it must have attained a diameter of about forty,
and a height of four hundred feet Near this large grove are two
others, the one containing eighty-six and the other thirty-five trees,
the average size of which are about the same as of those in the prin-
cipal grove.
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280 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNLL
i
KONO OOUNTT.
This connty derives its name from a large lake situated in its nortH-
em part — ^Uie word l)eing of Indian origin. It lies wholly beyond the
main ridge of the Sierra Nevada^ the crest of that range forming its
southwestern border. It is long and narrow, extending northwest and
southeast one hundred and fifty miles, and having an average breadth
of about forty miles. Its easterly portion is traversed longitudinally
by the White, the Inyo, and several other chains of mountains ; its
western section rising to the summit of the Sierra, and covering, in
part, Mount Dana and Castle Peak — the former thirteen thousand two
hundred and twenty-seven, and the latter thirteen thousand feet high.
The east and the west fork of Walker river, having their sources in the
great snowy range in the northwestern end of the county, after gather-
ing many tributaries, flow north into the State of Nevada. Owen's
river, heading a little south of Mono lake, and receiving the drainage
of the Sierra on the west, and of the White mountains on the east,
runs south and empties into Owen's lake, in Inyo county. There are
no other streams of any magnitude in the county, though numerous
creeks descend from the Sierra and after running a short distance out
upon the sage plain at its base disappear in the barren and arid soiL
At the point where these creeks debouch upon the plains fertile deltas
have been formed — their waters spreading out over a considerable
space of ground ; this system of natural irrigation having been pro-
moted by the Indians, who, finding here their favorite places of abode,
have employed it extensively in watering the wild clover ; which, thus
aided, grows abundantly, and upon which they love to feed when it is
young and tender. About the headwaters, and along the two forks of
Walker river, as well as in the valley of Owen's river, there are large
patches of alluvial soil upon which, through the assistance of irriga.
tion, good crops of grain and the more hardy vegetables can be raised;
though the country is too elevated for the successful culture of most
kinds of fruits — ^its general altitude being about six thousand feci As
a consequence, while much stock is kept here in the summer — enough
butter and cheese being made for the consumption of the inhabitants —
very little is done in the line of general farming ; the amount of land
inclosed in 1867 having been only about six thousand acres, of which
less than one third was under cultivation. Barley is the principal grain
planted, though a few thousand bushels of wheat and oats are raised
every year.
But trifling expenditures have been made on account of wagon road
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COUNTIES OF GAUFOBNLL 281
constmction within the limits of the county — the nature of the surface,
consisting largely of open valleys in the more populous sections, ren«
dering costly improvements of this kind by no means imperative.
Wagon communication with California is had mostly by way of Carson
valley; though lightly loaded vehicles cross the mountains during the
summer by the Sonora road, which terminates at Bridgeport At this
season horsemen and pack trains also cross on the Mono trail, coming
in further south.
There are no towns of any magnitude in this county — ^Bridge{>ort^
the county seat, and the largest, having but about two hundred inhabi-
tants. Beyond this, there is nothing but mining camps, containing, at
most, not over thirty or forty persons each. Monoville, once having
more than a thousand inhabitants, is now not only deserted, but has
almost entirely disappeared — such buildings as have not been removed
elsewhere, being nearly all crushed into shapeless ruins by the weight
of the snow, which here falls to a great depth in the winter.
On the Sierra there is much spruce and pine timber, from which
enough lumber of a fair quality is made to meet local requirements.
There are eight steam saw mills in the county, with a joint capacity to
cut forty thousand feet of lumber daily — the whole erected at an aggre-
gate cost of $70,000. The pinon grows, after its usual scattered and
straggling manner, on many of the hills and mountain ranges in the
northern and eastern parts of the county ; the only trees found on the
plains, or in the extensive valley of Owen's river, consisting of a few
willows, growing along the banks of that stream.
The Mono canal, twenty miles long, built to carry water from Vir-
ginia creek to Monoville, is the only work of the kind in the county — •
though there are many small ditches in the farming districts dug for
irrigating purposes. This canal, constructed nearly ten years ago, at a
cost of $75,000, was designed to supply water for working the diggings
at MonoviUe, which for a few years paid a population of six or eight
hundred very fair wages. These placers, .originally of but limited
extent, becoming exhausted, the locality has since been nearly aban-
doned— ^very little work having been done there for the past seven
years.
At no other point in the county have any surface diggings worth
mentioning been found, though very considerable operations in vein
mining have been carried on at various places within its limits. In the
Bodie district, a few miles north of Mono lake, many heavy quartz
veins, carrying both gold and silver, were located in 1860, upon sev-
eral of which much work has since been performed. Two large quartz
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282 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
mills have, within the past two years, been erected in the district; but
owing to difficidties experienced in treating the ores^ or other causes,
they have been idle much of the time since.
Several districts have been laid out elsewhere in the county, the
more important of which, either because of the work done in them, or
the superior character of their mines, consist of the Montgomery, Hot
Spring, Blind Spring, and Castle Peak. In the three first named, sev- '
eral small mills and smelting works have been put up — ^the ores,
though generally very rich being obdurate, and requiring treatment by
fusion. Lack of capital, and the many other drawbacks against which
these mines have had to contend — difficult of access, and often suffering
from inadequate supplies of wood and water — ^have prevented any
extensive developments from being made upon them. "With these
wants supplied, and these obstacles even partially removed, they could^
no doubt, be worked with profit — a few claims, operated with very
incomplete appliances, having been made to yield handsomely, on a
small scale. That a portion, at least, of the ores here obtained are of
high grade, is established by the fact that many tons sent to San Fran-
cisco for a market have sold at rates that left a good profit margin, after
paying the cost of extraction and the great expense of freight Until
greater facilities for transportation are afforded, however, the bulk of
these ores must be reduced on the ground — a disposition that can be
economically made of them wherever wood and water are plentiful, and
when suitable works shall be erected for treating them.
In the Castle Peak district, situated on an outlying bench of the
Sierra, a few miles south of Bridgeport, an immense silver-bearing
lode, called the Dunderberg, was discovered in 1866. Many claims
were afterwards located on this mother lode, which crops out boldly for
a distance of several miles. Upon the original location a large amount
of exploratory labor has been performed, and there is a strong proba-
bility that it will ultimately develope into a valuable mine.
Mono contains five quartz mills and reduction works, the whole
carrying thirtj'-eight stamps, and erected at a cost of about $230,000.
There are within its limits several groups of hot springs, none of them,
however, possessed of such striking features as to entitle them to espe-
cial notice.
Save, perhaps, some of the higher mountain peaks in its western part
already alluded to, this county possesses no topographical or other natu-
ral feature sufficiently notable to call for extended comment, except
Mono lake — a body of water fourteen miles long, from east to west, and
nine miles wide, occupying a basin on the divide that separates the waters
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBKU. 283
of Walker river from those flowing into Owen's lake. The size of this
lake was formerly much greater than at present, as is indicated by the
nomerons lofty terraces, distinctly seen nearly all round it — they being
most strongly marked on the west shore, where the highest has an ele-
vation of six hundred and eighiy feet above its present surface.
This lake contains a number of islands, one of which is two and a
half miles long, and another half a mile in length. They are all com-
posed of volcanic matter, the basin of the lake itself being supposed,
from its great depth and peculiar formation, to occupy the crater of
an ancient volcano. There are now scattered about in the viciniiy
numerous cones and partial craters pointing to a period when there
were many volcanoes in action here. In fact, upon the larger of these
islands, there are now hundreds of fumorolas from which gas, steam,
and smoke are constantly escaping, showing that these volcanic agen^
cies have not yet become wholly extinguished.
The water of the lake, intensely bitter and saline, is of high specific
gravity, being supersaturated with various mineral substances, of
which salt, lime, borax and the carbonate of soda form the principal.
So large a percentage of the latter does it hold in solution that it
washes better than the strongest soap-suds; in fact, such is its corro-
sive power, that it is impossible to remain in it for more than a few
moments, when bathing, without the skin becoming painfully afiected.
No living thing, except the larva of a small fly, inhabits this lake; even
the wild fowl that frequent it in summer keeping near the inlets where
the acrid water, diluted by the mountain streams discharging into it at
these places, is robbed of its more pungent properties.
So abundant, however, is the product of this insect, which taking
the shape of a small, white worm, drifts in millions upon the shore,
that the Indians, who collect and dry it, find in it one of their most
acceptable staples of subsistance. So sluggish are the waters^ which
have an oily appearance, that none but the strongest winds suffice to
more than raise a ripple on their surface. Void of life, and surrounded
with desolation. Mono has aptly been termed the "Dead sea" of the
Great Basin; being, though of less extent, much deeper, and more of a
waste in its dreary surroundings than the Great Salt Lake of Utah; if
not, also more bitter and baneful than the sxdlen waters that roll over
the lost cities of the Plains.
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284 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALDTORNLL
INYO COUNTY,
This county, organized in 1866 from portions of Tulare and San
Bernardino counties, is named after a mining district and a mountain
range lying within its borders, the term being of Indian origin. Inyo
is bounded on the north by Mono, on the northeast by the State of
Nevada, on the southeast by San Bernardino, and on the west by Tulare
county, its form approximating that of a triangle. Like Mono, it lies
wholly east of the main ridge of the Sierra^ the crest of that range,
which here reaches its greatest altitude, forming its western border.
The Inyo mountains, running north and south, traverse the county cen-
trally; the Panamint, a parallel and still higher range, lying to the east
of it ; while a portion of the Armagosa group occupies the extreme
eastern angle of the county. These mountains contain, standing in
patches or scattered over them, a sparse growth of pinon and juniper
trees, though they are but poorly supplied with either grass or water,
and have little or no land fit for tillage except narrow strips of alluvium
bottoms along a few of the streams at the point where they debouch
upon the plains. Neither are there any tracts of farming or meadow
lands in the valleys lying between these ranges, with the exception of
that of Owen's river, along which there is a strip of rich soil varying in
width from a few rods to a mile or more; and which, with irrigation,
produces grains and vegetables of all kinds in the greatest profusion.
In several of the valleys there are extensive alkali flats, and sometimes
beds of salt — saline and hot springs being also occaoionally met with.
The running water is generally fresh and pure, that of the lakes and
ponds, as weU as many of the springs, being so impregnated with salt
and chloride of soda as to be not only unpalatable, but wholly unfit for
drinking or culinary purposes. The waters of Owen's lake, twenty-two
miles long and eight wide, as well as those of the Little lake, a pond
lying twenty miles further south, are all of this description.
The amount of land enclosed in 1867 being mostly in Owen's river
valley, was estimated at two thousand acres, about one half of which
was under cultivation, the rest being mown for hay. The principal
grain raised was barley, though wheat and oats thrive equally well,
and Indian com is also successfully cultivated. A grist iniU having
recently been erected in Owen's valley, more wheat will, no doubt, be
planted hereafter, as facilities will be at hand for converting it into
flour.
There are three saw mills in the county, all of limited cost and
capacity, the demand for lumber heretofore having not been large. No
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COUNTIES OP CALIFOBNIA. 286
wagon roads have yet been built except a few of brief length leading
from Owen's valley into the mines. Throughout the entire length of
this valley, reaching for more than one hundred and fif iy miles, good
natural roads exist.
Inyo contains but few towns, or even populous mining camps;
Independence, the county seat and largest viUage in it, counting but
about one hundred inhabitants, exclusive of a small garrison of soldiers
stationed at this place. The entire population does not at present
exceed one thousand, though there is a strong probability that the
number of inhabitants will soon be materially augmented through the
very attractive character of the mines within its borders,
Bunning in from the south, between the Armagosa and Panamint
mountains, before mentioned, is the desolate region of ** Death valley,**
which having a length of forty miles» with a width of eight or ten, runs
north twenty degrees west from the point where the Armagosa river
sinks at its southern extremity. According to observations made by a
party of the United States Boundary Expedition, who entered it in 1861,
the whole of this plain is sunk four hundred feet below sea level, giv-
ing it a greater depression than the Caspian sea, and nearly as great as
that of the Dead sea, the sink of the Jordan, in Palestine. It is prob-
ably the bed of a former lake, the waters of which were heavily
chained with salt and soda, a large portion of this basin being covered
with an incrustation of these minerals several inches thicL The
remainder of this surface is composed of an ash-like earth, mixed with
a tenacious clay, sand and alkali, and is so soft that a man cannot
travel over it in the winter without difficulty, it being impossible for
animals at any season to cross it In spots, where there is less moist-
ure, the surface is so porous that a horse sinks into it half way to the
knees, rendering travel slow and laborious. Water can be obtained
almost anywhere by digging down a few feet, but it is so saline and
bitter that it can be used by neither man nor beasi With the excep-
tion of a few clumps of worthless shrubs near its borders, this plain is
destitute of even the slightest traces of vegetation; nor are any signs of
animal life to be seen upon it except a small black gnat;, which, STY^rm-
ing in myriads during the summer, greatly annoy the traveler, entering
his eyes, ears and nose, their attacks being persistent and their sting
peculiarly irritating.
The valley is encircled by a barren sage plain, from three to six
miles wide, which, beginning at the base of the mountains that sur-
round it on every side but the south, slopes gently down to its margin.
Coursing across this sterile belt, on which nothing grows but the wild
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286 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNLL
sage, intermixed with a few tufts of bunch-grass, are nomerous ravines,
the most of them dry, except, perhaps^ at long intervals; the streams
that flow through their upper portions, at the season of the melting
snows, sinking into the dry and porous earth soon after they reach the
foot of the mountains. Along these water-courses grow a few willow
and mesquite trees— the latter, though low and bushy, having a firm
fiber, makes excellent fueL
At a point about thirty miles north of Death valley, the Armagosa
river, a stream of small volume but great length, takes its rise, and
flowing southeast for more than a hundred miles, makes a detour
when far out on the Mohave desert, and bending round to the. north-
west, runs in that direction about forty miles, when, having reached
the southern end of this arid plain, it finally disappears. A consider-
able stream flows also into the north end of the valley, but, like the
Armagosa, as well as all the springs and such streams as do not descend
immediately from the mountains, the water is so impregnated with salt
as to be unfit for drinking.
The heat of this basin, uncomfortable often in winter, is constant
and terrible throughout the entire summer, the thermometer ranging
from a hundred and ten to a hundred and forty degrees during the day.
From the absence of animal life, and the sluggish state of the atmos^
phere, an ominous stillness reigns perpetually over it, giving, in con-
junction with the terrific heat and aridity, fearful significance to the
name popularly applied to it. In the summer of 1849 a party of immi-
grants, making their way overland to California, strayed into this val-
ley, and having wandered through its entire length, sought to escape
by scaling the mountain range that shuts it in on the north. Being
unable, however, to find any fresh water, several of the party, together
with most of their animals^ perished from heat and thirst, they having
become nearly exhausted before reaching the point where they at
length gave out. The evidences of their sufferings and final disaster
are still to be seen at several points along their route. Scattered
about one of their camping grounds are numerous remains of wagons,
kettles, and other cooking utensils, indicating a purpose of relieving
themselves from all useless equipage. Some miles further on, where
they had become entangled among the sand hills and soft bottoms
along Salt creek, is what seems to have been the culminating scene
of their sufferings. Here the bones of animals and the fragments of
wagons, camp furniture, etc., are thickly strewn around ; and here, no
doubt, covered by the drifting sands^ are the solitary and immarked
fptives of those who died.
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBNLL 287
Not far from this spot, and somewhere on the eastern slope of the
Panamint mountains^ is the localitj of the rich silver deposit supposed
to have been found by the survivors of this unfortunate party, while
seeking for a practicable pass through that range, and which has since
come to be known as the ** Gun Sight" mine, from the fact that one of
the discoverers, according to tradition, fitted a new sight for his rifle
from the metalic silver obtained from the lode. Unfortunately for the
credit of this story, as well as for numerous adventurers who have
since gone in search of this famous deposit, it appears to have had
nothing more substantial to justify it than the existence at that point
of a micaceous talc, which, persons xmacquainted with the appearance
of silver ores, might, on hasty inspection, mistake for that metal.
Near the main deflection of the Armagosa, on the Mojave desert,
a rich vein of auriferous quartz does exist ; but there being no wood or
fresh water, and scarcely any vegetation within a distance of fifty miles,
and the whole country adjacent being covered with sand, glistening
masses of basalt, and black volcanic buttes, it has been found impos-
sible to work this mine with profit, though several attempts have been
made to do so.
There is, however, in the western part of this county, situated in
both the Sierra Nevada and the Inyo mountains, a great extent of val-
uable mines ; certain sections of the Panamint chain also giving satis-
factory evidence of mineral wealth. In the" K^arsarge district, located
high up against the eastern slope of the Sierra, a very powerful silver
bearing lode was discovered in 1866, for which subsequent develop-
ments indicate both permanence and richness ; considerable quantities
of ore taken from the Eearsarge company's claim having yielded, by
mill process, from three hundred to six hundred dollars per ton. The
remoteness of the locality, however, and the stubborn nature of the
ores, have thus far restricted milling operations to narrow limits. But
the mine itself having in the meantime been fully proven, ultimate suc-
cess only awaits more ample and efficient means of reduction. Three
mills, one of twenty, and two of five stamps each, have been erected
in this district ; the larger driven by steam, and the two smaller by
water, of which there is sufficient in the vicinity of the mines for pro-
pelling a large amount of machinery. There is also plenty of timber
in the district to insure cheap supplies of fuel and lumber for an indef-
inite period. These mines being favorably situated for deep drainage
and ore extraction, can be worked at comparatively small cost for many
years to come.
In the Cerro Gordo, often called the Lone Pine district, lying
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288 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA.
along the western base of the Inyo mountains^ there are a vast num-
ber of gold and silver bearing lodes» not generally of large size, and
sometimes mnch broken up on the surface, but nearly all of great rich-
ness. The metals are chiefly a combination of silver, lead, copper*
and antimony, a union rendering reduction by smelting necessary.
The district has a length of about fifty miles with an average width of
six miles, there being within its limits about five hundred miners, the
most of them Mexicans. On the foot-hills and mountains adjacent to
the mines are scattered groves of pinon and juniper, but many parts
of the district are badly off for water, supplies being scaniy in the dry
season and obtainable only by digging. A large number of rude and
cheaply constructed furnaces have been built for smelting the ores,
which by this treatment yield, with a little selection, from one hun-
dred to three hundred dollars to the ton. There are also a number of
arastras in the district, some of the ores containing free gold and yield-
ing liberally under this mode of working. With the aid of even a
moderate amount of capital, very little of which has ever yet been
invested in these mines, their product of bullion, it is believed by
those most conversant with their character, could be multiplied many
fold, rendering their more extended working largely and almost cer-
tainly remunerative.
Between the years 1861 and 1865, a number of mining districts
were organized in different parts of this county, in some of which a
good deal of prospecting work was done and several mills were put
up. Owing, however, to the rebellious disposition of the ores, the
occurence of Indian hostilities and other obstacles, incident to the
then condition of this region or inherent in the mines themselves, no
satisfactory results waited upon any of these enterprises. Under the
more favorable circumstances now existing, some of these efforts are
about to be resumed — a marked degree of success being confidently
anticipated.
There are now fourteen quartz mills in this county, several of them
costly and of considerable capacity, and all driven by steam except
four. They carry a total number of one hundred and thirty stamps,
and cost in the aggregate about $350,000. There is but a single water
ditch in the county of any magnitude, the San Carlos canal taking
water from Owen's river, and conducting it along its banks for milling
and irrigating purposes. It extends a distance of fifteen miles, and
cost about thirty thousand dollars.
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CX)UNTIESOF CALIFOBNIA. 289
VALLEY COUNTIEa
TEHAMA COUNTY.
Tehama county, erected in 1856, has the following boundaries, viz. :
Shasta on the north, Plumas and Butte on the east, Butte and Colusa
on the south, and Mendocino and Trinity on the west. Its length,
east and west, is about seventy-eight miles, and its average breadth
thirty-eight miles, giving it a superficial area of nearly three thousand
square miles. The county is bordered on the west by the Coast Eange
of mountains — its eastern portion being covered by numerous outlying
spurs of the Sierra Nevada. The latter are well timbered with forests
of spruce and pine, suitable for making lumber. The Coast Bange
contains only an inferior species of oak and pine, while there is but
little timber of any kind elsewhere in the county — the cottonwood and
sycamore formerly growing along the Sacramento and other streams,
being now nearly all cut away.
Tehama is almost exclusively a farming and stock raising county —
there being a large body of rich alluvial soil in the valley of the Sacra-
mento river, running centrally across it, and along the several large creeks
that flow from the mountains on either hand. Here is a broad scope
of the best grain growing land in the State, while the hills are every-
where covered with wild oats and bunch grass, affording rich and
ample pasturage for the herds of sheep, horses and cattle that con-
stantly feed upon them. The numerous streams afford abundant
means for irrigation — an aid not often needed for maturing the cereal
crops, though employed to some extent in the gardens, orchards and
vineyards.
In 1865, there were, according to the Assessor's report, 70,715 acres
of land enclosed in this county, of which about 16,000 were under cul-
tivation ; 7,832 acres, sown to wheat, yielded 147,478 bushels ; 8,068
acres, sown to barley, yielded 153,965 bushels; and 25 acres, planted
to oats, produced 1,080 bushels. In the year 1866, 13,424 acres of
wheat gave a product of 270,035 bushels — a less quantity of this grain
having been raised the following season, though a greater area of land
was sown ; the crops having suffered, as was the case in many other
localities in the State, from an excess of rain at one period, and an
insufliciency at another. Several thousand bushels of Indian com are
raised here every season ; a considerable amount of broom com being
also grown. The climate of this region is well suited to viniculture —
there being now more than a half million grape vines in the county,
19
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290 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF OAUFOBKU.
and seyeral thousand gallons of wine having been made annually for a
number of years past.
Latterly, much attention has been given to sheep raising in Teha-
ma^ and as the soil and climate are well suited to this business^ wool
will, most likely, in the course of a few years^ form one of its most
important staples.
Tehama contains four grist mills^ capable of grinding four hundred
barrels of flour daily. They carry twelve run of stone, and cost, in the
aggregate, about $90,000.
As there is little or no placer mining carried on in this county, no
water ditches, other than those required for irrigation, have been con*
structed, while an almost exclusive devotion to agricultural pursuits has
prevented the inhabitants engaging in the business of manufacturing —
about the only thing done in this line being the making of flour and
lumber. There are two saw mills in the county, both driven by water,
and of but moderate capacity. The assessable value of the property
in Tehama county was placed at $950,589 in 1865, and at $1,557,925 in
1867 — showing a gratifying advance during this period.
Owing to the generally favorable character of the country, but few
costly wagon roads have been required in this county, and, conse-
quently, but little money has been expended on these improvements ;
the citizens^ however, have contributed liberally towards building roads
leading over Ue Sierra — ^the county having issued its bonds in the sum
of $40,000 to aid the construction of the Bed Bluff and Honey Lake
turnpike, opening the shortest wagon route from the navigable waters
of the Sacramento to northwestern Nevada and southern Idaho.
The population of Tehama numbers about seven thousand, of whom
a large proportion are women and children. Bed Bluff, the county
seat, occupies a handsome site on the right bank of the Sacramento
river, and contains two thousand five hundred inhabitants. It is a
prosperous and growing town, and, being at the head of steamboat
navigation on that river, enjoys a thrifty trade, not only with the differ-
ent parts of the county, but also with {>oints east of the Sierra — the
amount of freight shipped from this place for the Humboldt and Owy-
hee mines being large, and increasing every year.
Tehama^ twelve miles south of the county seat, on the same side of
the river, has a population of about five hundred. Being near the point
of confluence of several large creeks with the Sacramento, along each of
which there is much fine land, it is the center of and supply point for
an extensive farming district, extending in every direction around it
Cottonwood, Moon's ranch, and Grove City are rural hamlets^ con-
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OOUNTIES OF CAUFOBKIA. 891
taming from fifty to one hundred inhabitants each — ^there having baen
at one time several small mining camps in the comity, the most of which
are now abandoned.
In 1864 &t which time there was much attention being paid to the
discovery of copper, a great many lodes carrying the ores of this metal,
often mixed with gold and silver, were located and partially prospected
in the eastern part of the county. A town named C!opper City sprang
up at these mines, and a population of several hundred were for a time
gathered there. A four-stamp mill was subsequently put up, the only
one ever erected in the county, and ran for a period with fair success ;
the quartz, though somewhat difficult of reduction, having been found '
to yield from twenty to thirty dollars to the ton. Of late, but little has
been done in the district — ^the population having mostly left — ^though it
is believed the lodes are really valuable, and that they will yet be
worked with profit — ^the facilities for extracting and reducing their con-
tents being good.
In the northeastern part of the county are numerous volcanic cones,
some of them regularly shaped and very steep; and rising several hun-
dred feet above the country adjacent, they often become striking objects
in the surrounding landscape.
All the streams heading in the Sierra run in deep canons which
open u{>on the Sacramento valley in gate-like chasms, the lava forma-
tion through which they flow terminating here with an abrupt edge.
Below this is a barren, treeless belt, covered with volcanic fragments,
which, gradually slopiujg to the west, merges in the fertile bottom lands
along the river. The latter, in places, more especially along the water
courses, still c<mtain much timber, a great deal of that formerly f oxmd
on these plains having been cut for fuel smd fencing.
The Tuscan, formerly known as the Lick springs, lying to the north-
east of Bed Blufi^ having quite a reputation for their medicinal virtues
in certain cases, are much resorted to by invalids from the surrounding
country — a bathing establishment and boarding house having been
erected for their accomodation. The water has a temperature of about
seventy-six degrees, and contains salt, soda,, lime and borax, in various
proportions.
BUTTE COUNTY.
Butte county, so named from the Sutter Buttes, a group of prom-
inent peaks lying a few miles south of its border, or perhaps from
a low serrated mountain range within its limits, is bounded on the
northwest by Tehama, on the northeast by Plumas, on the southeast
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292 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
by Tuba, on the sonth by Sutter, and on the west by Colusa county;
its extreme length north and south being a little over sixty, and its
average breadth about thirty-five miles. It is the only county in the
State possessing an almost equal importance in an agricultural and
mineral point of view. Skirted by the Sacramento river on the west,
it embraces a large portion of the rich bottom lands along that stream;
while, running through it from north to south, is the extensive and
fertile valley of Feather river, with those of its several branches, giv-
ing it a large area of the finest farming lands in the State. Along the
main Feather river, as well as on its South, its West and Middle Forks,
and throughout the country lying between them, there is a broad
scope of mineral land, forming the theatre of very active and remunera-
tive mining operations.
The county is well watered — ^the western part by Bock, Chico,
Butte, Mesilla and other smaller creeks, and the eastern by Feather
river, its three main forks and their numerous tributaries; along all of
which there is more or loss rich interval land. The greater part of the
county is level; only the eastern and northern sections rising into the
foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, while the northwestern is crossed by a
number of low ridges^ separating the several creeks that run through
that region. The county along its northern and eastern border is
well timbered ; the interior and western part thereof being without
forest suitable for lumber — ^much of it without a sufficiency of wood
even for fueL There are ten saw mills in Butte, each of which cuts
barely enough lumber to meet the requirements of its own neighbor-
hood, none being exported.
The citizens of this county, besides building many wagon roads for
local conveniences, have aided in constructing others running into the
more important mining districts, and one leading from Chico, on the
Sacramento river, across the Sierra — a route by which much freight,
destined for northern Nevada and the Owyhee mines, has gone forward
during the past few years. Through the aid of a railroad extending
from Oroville, near the center of the principal agricultural districts, to
Marysville, the head of navigation on Feather river, and by means of
the Sacramento river, also navigable, the farmers of Butte enjoy good
facilities for shipping their produce to San Francisco, the controlling
markei
The population of this county is estimated at about twelve thousand.
The real and personal property therein, exclusive of mines, was assessed
in 1866 at $5,128,358, giving an average of $427 to each inhabitant;
and which, if the value of the mines were included, would make this,
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COUNTIES OP CALCORXLL 293
next to San Francisco and Nevada^ the richest community in the State.
In regard to the value of its real and personal property Butte ranks
seventh in the list of California counties.
The quantity of land enclosed in 1865 amounted, according to
assessor's estimates, to 293,222 acres, of which 74, 775 were under culti-
vation. Of this, 19,975 acres produced 511,170 bushels of wheat, and
53,817 acres produced 698,227 bushels of barley. In the year 1866,
21,919 acres planted to wheat gave a yield of 231,041 bushels. The
total product of this cereal in 1867, when a much greater breadth of
land was planted than ever before, was estimated on good authority to
have reached 800,000 bushels, very little other grain having been raised
that year.
In 1867, General John Bidwell, the largest farmer in the coxmty,
had 2,500 acres sown to wheat, which gave a yield of 33,751 bushels —
a much lower rate of increase than is usual in this county, the season
having in some respects been xmpropitious. The ordinary yield here
averages about thirty bushels of wheat and forty-five of barley to the
acre. General Bidwell has about 3,000 bearing fruit trees on his farm,
from which he sent during the year last mentioned one hundred tons of
green and fifteen tons of dried fruit to market. The value of the farm-
ing products shipped from Butte for a number of years past has
amounted to $2,000,000 annually, it having some years exceeded these
figures.
There are four grist mills in this county, the whole carrying ten run
of stone, and capable of making about six hundred barrels of flour
daily. They are kept almost constantly employed in grinding the home
crop, large quantities of flour being sent into the neighboring mining
districts and to points east of the Sierra. The Chico mill alone made
during the year 1867 over five thousand barrels of flour, one or two of
the others having ground nearly as much.
While gra^ raising has chiefly engrossed the attention of the agri-
culturalists of Butte, fruit growing and viniculture have not been
wholly neglected; much wine being made and large quantities of fruit
dried every season. For several years past enough raisins, of excellent
quality, have also been made to supply the domestic trade.
The number of horses and mules kept for farm work and draft, and
also of cattle, swine and sheep in this county, is large; wool being one
of its staple exports. Difficulties in regard to land titles growing out
of Mexican grants did much to retard the progress of farming here for
many years, these troubles being now happily settled.
Among the products of this county, being novel in California, are
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294 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
peanuts, of which three thousand two hundred bushels were grown in
the year 1867. They are cultivated by the Ohinese, and are remark-
able for their great size and excellent flavor.
In the year 1867 twenty thousand gallons of turpentine and two
thousand five hundred cases of rosin were manufactured in Butte,
from the sap or raw turpentine gathered by tapping the extensive pine
forests that cover the eastern part of the county. The production ol
these articles could easily be increased tnany fold were they in larger
consumption on this coast.
The principal towns in Butte are Oroville, the county seat^ containing
about three thousand inhabitants; Ohico, on the Sacramento river, with
a population of eight hundred, and the center of a flourishing farming
community, and which besides enjoying a large local trade, has a con-
siderable commerce with the mining districts of Humboldt and Idaho;
and Cherokee, an active mining town, ten miles north of the county
seat^ with about six hundred inhabitants in and around ii Bidwell's
Bar, Brush Creek, Butte Valley, Forbestown, Inskip, Thompson's Flat,
Hamilton, Wyandotte and Dayton are all mining camps, or agricultural
hamlets, containing from one to four hundred inhabitants each.
As stated, a large proportion of this county consists of what may be
termed mineral lands; every description of gold mines and mining
being found and carried on within its limits, a broad expanse of placers
having been wrought here at an early day. Here are innumerable lodes
of gold bearing quartz; long stretches of mesas, or table mountains, cov-
ering the channels of ancient rivers ; deep banks of auriferous detritus
overlying the slates, and a great many shallow diggings, some of which,
though very prolific, have been but little worked, the great drawback
to placer mining in many parts of this county having been a lack of
water; but few ditches of any magnitude having yet been built for
introducing this element into the mines. These works are fifteen in
number, varying in length from two to fourteen miles. Their entire
length is sixty-eight miles; total cost, $75,000. With more copious sup-
plies of water very extensive and profitable placer mining might here
be prosecuted for many years. In many rich localities, however, an
obstacle to successful operations exists in the extreme level character
of the surface, there being too little fall to give the water sufficient
motion for effectual washing, or to carry away the tailings. Owing to
this difficulty a wide area of shallow placers near Brownsville can only
be worked in a small way in the wet season, when good wages can be
made operating with the rocker. The gold obtained in this vicinity is
remarkable for its purity, ranging from 984 to 987 in fineness^ and
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OOUimES OF OAUFOBNU. 295
being, consequently, worth from $20.34 to $20.40 per onnce. This is
said to be in point of pnrity the finest gold found in the State, and,
with the exception of tiie dust coming from Africa^ and from one or two
small localities in Australia^ the finest procured in the world.
Considerable river bed mining is carried on eveij summer in the
channels of tiie main Feather river, and its several forks, where these
operations have been attended with better average results than at any
other point in the State. M>out Oroville, where, for a long time, river-
bar and bank mining was conducted on a large scale ; at Cherokee
Flat, Little Butte creek, Forbestown, and several minor localities, every
branch of placer operations is engaged in, and generally with fair suc-
cess, though not on a scale of such magnitude as in most of the min-
ing coimties lying further south and east
Quartz mining during its earlier stages was attended with but in-
different results in this county. For several years past, however, this
interest has been not only expanding, but making steady gains, until
it has at length reached a stage rendering ultimate success no longer
problematic. Cherokee, Wyandotte, Dogtown, Brown's Valley, Oregon
City, Virginia^ Yankee Hill, and Forbestown, are the points where
quartz is being most extensively worked, and where the most of the
mills are located. There are nine of these establishments in the
county, carrying a total of one hundred and twenty-five stamps ; a
forty stamp miU havi^ recently been erected and set in operation at
Forbestown.
Several years ago a stratum of coal, of tiie cannel variety, was dis-
covered near Feather river. The tests made of it at the time were
said to have been satisfactory, but the deposit has not since been suf-
ficiently developed to determine either its probable extent or value as
a fueL A bed of marble has also been found on the same stream.
The material, of which there is an abundance, being of close texture
and variegated colors^ will no doubt prove of future value.
COLUSA COUNTY.
The name of this county is of Indian origin. It is one of .the few
regularly shaped counties in California, .being nearly square, and has
the following boundaries, viz: Tehama on the north, Butte and Sutter
on the east, Yolo on the south, and Lake and Mendocino on the west.
It has a length of fifty-seven miles north and south by a breadth of forty-
five miles — ^the western part constituting about one third of the county,
being covered by tie Coast Bange, is hilly or mountainous. The bal-
ance, consisting of rich alluvial, or less fertile prairie land, is nearly all
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296 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
level and well adapted to the growing of fruits and grain, this being
almost exclusiTelj an agricultural and stock raising county. The hills
and mountains are covered with wild oats and a variety of grasses,
affording rich and abundant pasturage. While the quantity of grain
raised is considerable, a great deal of stock is also kept, much of it
being bred for market, there now being over twentj-five thousand head
of cattle in this county. Owing to the dryness and heat of the climate,
dairying is not extensively carried on. Sheep and swine raising, how-
ever, form large and profitable branches of business. The wool clip of
Colusa, for 1867, exceeded three hundred and fifty thousand pounds,
the number of sheep being estimated at one hundred and twenty-five
thousand.
Stretching for many miles along the Sycamore slough, and other
streams running into the Sacramento river, are strips of tule land,
amounting in the aggregate to about thirty thousand acres, the most of
which could easily be reclaimed and converted into superior pasture,
grain and meadow lands. The area of land enclosed in 1866 was esti-
mated at about one hundred and thirty thousand acres, of which more
tiian one third was under cultivation. The amount of wheat raised that
year reached about two hundred and fifty thousand bushels, the crop of
the succeeding year having been much larger. Considerable quantities
of barley, oats and com are also planted every season. A great quantity
of additional land was taken up and sown to ^rain, mostly wheat, in
1867-8, which, should the season prove favorable, must largely increase
the crop of the latter year. The number of acres of land under culti-
vation, in 1867, reached fifty-one thousand five hundred; of which,
twenty-four thousand two hundred were sown to wheat, producing
about four hundred and fifty thousand bushels, and twenty thousand
one hundred and forty acres were sown to barley, producing four hun-
dred thousand bushels.
The real and personal property of Colusa was assessed in 1866 at
$2,080,830, a large proportion of it being on account of stock, all kinds
of which thrive here with little care, the climate being mild and feed
abundant On the night of the 11th of January, 1868, snow fell at the
town of Colusa to the depth of six inches, the heaviest fall that had
occurred, with one exception, within the memory of the oldest settlers
in the county. Only at long intervals does any snow ever fall in the
valleys, its duration here being limited to a few hours. On the higher
peaks of the Coast Range, which borders the county on the west, a little
snow falls every winter; but it never reaches any great depth, nor does
it lie for more than a few weeks at a time. Swine, of which there are
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OOUiniES OP CALIFOENIA. 297
large nmnbers raised in the county, grow and fatten on the tule roots,
which, famishing a cheap and nutritions food, enables the farmer to
raise these animals with little expense and trouble. Often a thousand
head of hogs, or more, are shipped from this county in a single week.
There are but few towns, and none of any magnitude, in this county
— Colusa^ the county seat, containing four or five hundred inhabitants^
being the largest place in ii Princeton, eighteen miles, and Jacinto,
forty miles north of Golusa> are small agricultural towns, and being,
like the county seat, located on the Sacramento river, are points whence
large quantities of produce are shipped every year. This county con-
tains about four thousand five hundred inhabitants, there having been
a marked increase in the population as well as in the value of property
during the past two years.
There being no gold or silver mines in Oolusa, it contains neither
quartz mills nor extensive canals — the only water ditches being a few
of small dimensions designed for irrigation. There are two steam flour-
ing mills, carrying five run of stone, and two saw mills, the latter of
small capacity, there being but little lumber made in the county. In
fact, it contains no timber, with the exception of a limited amount in
the Coast Bange, suitable for this purpose. Many of the water courses
were originally skirted by narrow belts of trees, consisting chiefly of
sycamore and cottonwood; but these having been mostly cut away the
settled parts of the county are but scantily supplied with fuel and fenc-
ing timber.
Deposits of sulphur, copper and cinnabar exist in the foot-hills of the
Coast Bange; but as the latter two have been but little worked, nothing
positive can be affirmed in regard to their extent or value. ^The sul-
phur bed, in the same vicinity, about thirty miles westerly from Colusa^
consists of large masses of native mineral, some of it quite pure, other
portions being largely mixed with earthy matter. For the purpose of
relieving it of these impurities, refining works have been erected on
the spot, and considerable quantities of a good merchantable article
produced. The limited demand, however, existing on this coast has
caused a suspension of operations at this refinery ; though such is the
abundance of the raw material here, and the facility with which it can
be gathered and refined, that with a home market even at moderate
prices, these works could be profitably operated.
During the years 1864-66 a number of wells were bored in this
section of the county in search of petroleum ; none of them, however,
met with any success^ though several were sunk to a depth of two or
three hundred feci The incentive to these borings consisted in a
y
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298 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF OAUFOBNIA.
number of petroleum springs located in the vicinity, the natural flow
from some of which is copious and constant
SUTTEB COUNTY.
This county is named in honor of Gteneral John A. Sutter, one of
the earliest American settlers in Oalifomia, and once one of the largest
landholders of the State. This gentleman still continues to reside on
Hock Farm, a small, but beautiful and highly cultivated tract of land
on the west bank of Feather river, all that now remains to him of his
once vast possessions.
This county is bounded by Butte on the north, by Tuba and Placer
on the east, by Sacramento and Yolo on tiie south, and by Yolo and
Colusa coxmties on the wesi Though of small dimensions, being
scarcely forty miles long, north and south, and but fifteen wide, it is
among the most fertile, tiioroughly cultivated, and, for its size, largely
productive counties in the State. While grain planting forms the princi-
pal pursuit of tiie inhabitants, fruit growing, dairying, stock, sheep
and swine raising, each comes in for a large share of attention, and is
made to contribute materially towards swelling the wealth and adding
to the annual exports of the county.
Sutter, forming a delta between tJie Sacramento and Feather rivers,
is composed chiefly of the rich bottom lands lying adjacent to those
streams; almost the only inequality of the surface, except a few low
rolling prairies, tJiat occursv within its limits, consisting of the Sutter
ButteS) an isolated group of peaks, three in number, and joined at
the base, standing in the northwestern part of the county. They form
a conspicuous object in the landscape, the level character of the sur-
rounding country rendering them visible for a long distance in every
direction. Save l^e Sacramento and Feather rivers, there are no streams
of any size in tJie county.
As Sutter grows no timber suitable for making good lumber, there
is not a saw mill in ii A narrow strip of sycamore and cottonwood,
along the two rivers mentioned, with a few scattered oaks elsewhere,
constitutes about the only native growth of trees found within its limits.
Neither have any mines or mineral deposits ever been found here;
consequently Sutter is without quartz mills, canals or other hydraulic
works.
The present population of the county is estimated at about six
thousand, beings as in all purely agricultural communities, largely
made up of families. There are but few towns, and none of large size;
Yuba City, the county seat, containing not more than four or five hun-
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COUNTIES OF GAUTOBNU. 299
dred inhabitants, while Kicolans, seventeen miles to the southeast, and
the next in size, has not over three or four hundred. Yemon, Meridian,
Borne, and West Butte, are hamlets, having from fifty to two hundred
inhabitants each.
The real and personal prc^rfy of this oountj in 1867 was assessed
at 11,732,266. The amount of land under cultivation that year was
estimated at sixty-five thousand acres; the quantity of wheat raised
in 1866 approximating two hundred and seventy thousand bushels,
being somewhat less than was raised the following year. A great deal
of barley is also raised, with a small quantify of oats, Indian com
imd other grain. Fruits and vineyards have been extensively cultivated,
many trees and vines having been planted, and several thousand gallons
of wine made every year. Oranges, olives, figs^ pomegranates and
almonds grow here with vigor and ripen in the open air. Over one
hundred thousand pounds of butter is made annually; the swamp and
tule lands, of which there is a broad belt running north and south
through tiie county, afibrding green and succulent pasturage for the
cows during the summer and greatly increasing their yield of milk.
The culture of the castor bean has received a good deal of aiiiention
in Sutter for several years past; over sixty acres having been planted
in 1866, and a much larger number the ensuing year, the yield of which
was exceedingly prolific
YUBA COUNTY.
Yuba is another of those interior counties, the industry of which,
from their position along the line of contact of the alluvial valleys and
the great mineral range of the State, has been largely diversified by a
mixture of €kgricultural, pastoral, and mining pursuits. Lying partly in
the rich and extensive valleys of Dry creek, Yuba^ Bear, and Feather
rivers, and partly on the foot-hills and lower slopes of the Sierra, cut
by these streams and their afBuent% it is composed almost entirely of
choice farming, grazing and mining lands; more than one fourth of its
area consisting of the latter. Besides its grain growing capacities, the
abundance of the wild oats and native grasses, found both upon the
hills and in the valleys, renders this a large sheep and stock growing
county. Yuba is geographically surrounded as follows, viz : on the
northwest by Butte; on the east by Sierra and Nevada; on the south
by Nevada, Placer and Sutter, and on the west by Sutter county. Its
extreme length, measured northeast and southwest, is fifty-seven, and
its average width about eighteen miles. There are no lofty peaks within
its limits; nor is any portion of the county, except the northeastern
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300 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
comer, extremely rugged or broken, though the river canons gradually
deepen, and the foot-hills swell to greater heights as they extend north
and east into the Sierra.
The county is watered by the Feather river, separating it from Sut-
ter on the west; by the Main Tuba and its Middle Fork; by Bear river,
dividing it from Placer and Sutter counties on the south; by Honecut
creek, its northwestern boundary, and by Dry creek, running centrally
through it from northeast to southwest OriginaUy the banks of these
streams were timbered along their lower portions, after the maimer
common in this region — a few oaks being scattered over the valley
lands and lower foot-hills. But the most of this growth has now been
removed, though there is still an abundance of fine timber along the
eastern border and in the northern part of the county, where large
quantities of lumber are made every year — ^Tuba containing seventeen
saw mills, nearly all of which are kept steadily employed cutting lumber
for domestic consumption. These mills have each capacity to make
from four to twenty thousand feet of sawed stuff daily, and cost in the
aggregate one hundred and thirty thousand dollars.
Located at Marysville, the principal town in the county, are a num-
ber of industrial establishments, the most important of which is a
woolen mill, erected in 1867, and started in the month of September of
that year. It is driven by steam, and has seven looms, with all the
appurtenances requisite to the manufacture of blankets and flannels,
the only goods thus far made. The fabrics turned out here, though
not yet largely introduced in the general market, are approvingly
spoken of by the trade. Marysville also contains a foundry and machine
shop, a sash and door factory, soap works, and several other manu-
facturing establishments of less moment. The town is also provided
with gas and water works of much greater capacity than its present
population requires. A few years since there were many thousand pine
trees tapped in this county, it having for a time shared with Butte
the business of gathering and manufacturing the sap of this tree into
rosin and turpentine. Latterly, but little has been done here, though
the business would no doubt be resumed should these commodities
undergo any appreciable advance in price.
The population of Tuba numbers twelve thousand, of whom about
five thousand are residents of Marysville, the county seat and principal
town in it. This place occupies a pleasant site on the west bank of
Feather river, at the head of steamboat navigation on that stream. It
is regularly laid out and well built up — the more central parts being
composed of spacious fire-proof stores, hotels and other business
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COUNTIES OF CALIFORNIA. 801
stractureSy and the suburbs abounding in tasty mansions and neat cot-
tages— the most of them occupying ample grounds planted with vines,
fruit trees and vegetables, and embellished with ornamental shrubbery
and flowers. Its position at the head of navigation secures to it a
large trade with the country around, as well as with the mining towns
and camps in the interior, and renders it tiie shipping point for almost
the entire products of the county.
Camptonville, forty-one miles northeast of the county seat, is, next
to the latter, the largest town in Yuba, it having a population of about
six hundred. After this, taking them in the order of population, comes
Smartsville, Brown's Valley and Timbuctoo, each having a population
of two or three hundred in and immediately about it — there being many
other villages in the mining districts, each of which forms the nucletis
of a small and generally prosperous community, and the center of an
active local trade. As in most of the mining counties, there arc here
many towns and camps which now number less tiian a tithe of the
population they contained ten or fifteen years ago, when the placers
about them were stiU rich and virgin.
The assessed value of the real and personal property in Yuba was
fixed at four million one hundred and forty-one thousand dollars for
the year 1866. The enclosed land amounts to about one hundred and
thirty-five thousand acres, of which more than one fourth is under
cultivation. Both here and in the adjacent counties, large tracts of land
in the foot-hills are surrounded by fences of a cheap and temporary
kind, merely for restraining stock. The principal grain raised is wheat,
of which about seventy-five thousand bushels were grown in 1867.
Large quantities of barley, oats, buckwheat and Indian com are also
sown every year — the yield of these cereals often being large. Fifteen
acres planted to the castor bean in 1866 yielded two thousand three
hundred bushels, the plant of 1867 having been much larger. Many
cattle, horses, sheep and hogs are raised here, wool forming one of the
leading exports of the county, and large quantities of ham and bacon
being cured for market.
The culture of fruits and vines receives great attention in this
county — the orchard of G. G. Briggs, near Marysville, being one of
the most valuable in the State, both as regards extent, yield and excel-
lence of fruits. Even in the foot-hills there are many large and prolific
orchards and vineyards, some of them containing from three to five
thousand apple trees, and over thirty thousand vines. Lemons,
oranges, olives, almonds, etc., grow well in all the lower parts of the
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302 ras NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
county, where, also, cotton and tobacco, of &dr qualitj, can be raised
with irrigation and a little extra care.
The real and personal property in Yuba was assessed for the year
1867 at $3,039,025, independent of ihe valne.of mines. The great
advantages enjoyed for receiving imported goods in this county by
means of the Sacramento river, and the railroad extending north from
Marysville, and of shipping away its surplus products through the
same channels, have added largely to the population and wealth of
Yuba. The prospect of an early completion of the partially built and
long delayed railroad between Marysville and Lincoln, whence there is
already a road in operation to Folsom, promises a material increase of
these advantages, inasmuch as this would secure to Yuba uninter-
rupted railroad communication with Sacramento and ultimately^ with
San Francisco.
For a number of years the placer mines along the Yuba and else-
where in this county proved extremely rich, some of this class of claims
still worked here being among the most largely productive and remu-
nerative in the State. Scarcely anything in the history of California
mining has surpassed the success attending the working of the Blue
Gravel claim, at Smartsville, in this county, during the forty-three
months prior to December, 1867 — ^the total amount taken out in this time
having been $878,409, of which $564^500 were net profits. At Tim-
buctoo, an early mining camp two miles from this place, many millions
of dollars have been washed oui^ tiie auriferous gravel, though worked
as low as practicable with the present tunnels, not yet being exhausted.
The washing here, as well as in many other localities in the coimty,
is performed by hydraulic pressure, sluicing, and the several other
modes in use being also practiced. The most important quartz mining
district in Yuba is that of Brown's Valley, where there are a large
number of veins, some of which have been opened to considerable
depths and found to be of good size, well walled, rich, and compact;
tiie ore paying by ordinary mill process, from twenty to thirty dollars
per ton, the gold being mostly free and easily saved. A number of
mills have been put up in this district^ the net earnings of which have
in all cases been fair, and in some quite large. There are twelve quartz
mills in the county, the whole carrying ninety-six stamps, and costing
in the aggregate $240,000. Some of these mills are large and very
perfect in their appointments, having cost over $60,000.
Twenty-six canals and water ditches have been built, lying wholly
or mostly in Yuba ; only one of these, however, the Excelsior Canal,
taking water from Deer Creek and conducting it to the diggings about
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OOUKTIES OF OALIFOBNIA. 803
SmartsYille, Timbnctoo, Boss's Bar, and other points farther west, is
of any great magnitude. This work has an entire length of one hun-
dred and fifty miles, and cost over half a million dollars. The aggre-
gate cost of the other ditches has been about 1150,000.
YOLO COUNTY.
This is exolusiyely an agricultural county, farming, dairying stock-
raising, and fruit growing, in their several departments, constituting
the sole occupation of the inhabitants. Yolo has a long, irregular
shape, its longitudinal axis reaching a distance of sixty miles north-
west and southeast, and its width averaging about twelve miles. It is
surrounded by the following counties, viz : Oolusa, north ; Sutter
and Sacramento, east; Solano and Napa, south — Solano, Napa, and
Lake lying to the west. T)ie eastern half of the couniy is almost a
dead leveL Succeeding this flat portion on tiie w^t is a belt of slightly
undulating prairie, which gradually rises into the lower slopes of the
Coast Bange of mountains, that cover the western parts of the county.
The level district consists mostly of a rich alluvial soil ; a strip border-
ing the Sacramento river and Sycamore Slough, varying in width from
two to five miles, being tule land. The bottoms along Putah and Cache
Creeks, the latter running centrally through the country, and the former
skirting its southern border, are among the most fertile in the State.
Cottonwood, sycamore and willow grow along the water courses, and
oak sparsely, with a little pine on the foothills of the Coast Bange. As
the amount of timber fit for making lumber is limited, there are but
two saw-mills in Yolo; one of which, situated at Washington, on the
Sacramento river, obtains its timber supply from points outside the
county.
Yolo being, so &r as discoveries extend, destitute of metalif erous
or mineral deposits, and having, therefore, no occasion for canals,
quartz mills, or reduction works, none have been built within its limits*
Neither has much money been laid out in the construction of roads,
or in the erection of machinery for manufacturing purposes ; the level
and open character of the country requiring but few improvements of
tiie former kind, while the liberal rewards that have generally attended
agricultural pursuits have tended to discourage the introduction of
new industries.
The population of yolo numbers about ten thousand, the most of
whom reside upon farms, and are very generally distributed over the
county. Woodland, the county seat, located on the south side of Cache
creeks eight miles west of the Sacramento river, contains about one
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304 !rH£ NATUBAL TO^ALTH OF CAMFOBKIA.
thousand two hundred inhabitants. Knight's Landing, ten miles north
of Woodland, has a population of about five hundred. Being on the
Sacramento river, and in the vicinage of a rich farming district, large
quantities of grain and other agricultural products are shipped hence
every season. Washington, containing about two hundred inhabitants,
situated on the west bank of the river, opposite Sacramento city, is
also the supply and shipping point for a considerable extent of back
country. Yolo, Charleston (formerly Fremont), Prairie, Cache Creek,
and Buckeye, are towns of less size, scattered over the eastern and
southern sections of the county.
The assessable property in Yolo was valued in 1866 at $2,390,232.
The quantity of fenced land amoimts to about 170,000 acres, of which
90,000 are under cultivation, the most of it being planted to wheat and
barley. Of the former, 48,000 acres were sown in 1866, producing
nearly 1,500,000 bushels of grain; the breadth planted the following
year having been somewhat broader, though the total product was
scarcely so large. The quantity of barley raised here at one time
greatly exceeded the wheat — ^less having been sown Hie past few
years.
The wheat crop for 1866, was 867,590 bushels, raised on 26,408 acres
— only 18,075 acres being sown the following year. During the year
1866, 10,000 bushels of oats ; 1,250 of rye ; 16,120 of Indian com ;
150 of buckwheat ; 200 of peas ; 4000 of castor beans, and 4042 of
peanuts, together with 1,500 pounds of tobacco, and six of silk cocoons
were raised. Eight hundred and eighty-four acres of broom com were
planted; 97,020 pounds of butter, 7,040 of cheese, 162,680 of wool,
and 26,244 of honey were produced the same year, besides large quaa.
tities of hay, potatoes, beets, onions and other vegetables. In 1866»
Yolo contained the following number of fruit trees : 29,430 apple ;
31,351 peach ; 12,148 pear, with a considerable number of other fruit
trees, including a few of tJie lemon, orange, and olive. There were
then 157,434 grape vines growing in the county, 18,637 gallons of wine
and 5,687 of brandy having been made from the vintage of that year.
According to the Assessor's report for 1866, Yolo contained 59,166
sheep ; 14,644 hogs ; 4480 horses ; 1,976 mules ; 2,492 cows, and 4604
beef cattle, besides a small number of oxen, asses, calves, goats, etc.
There are three grist mills in the county carrying seven run of stone,
there being about 35,000 barrels of flour made annually. In seasons
of extreme drouth this county suffers in common with most of those
lying within the rim of the great interior basin, formed by the vaUeys
of the San Joaquin and Sacramento, the average yield of the crops
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OOUNTIES OF CAUFOBKU. 305
here having fallen some years as low as eight bushels of wheat to the
acre — the ordinary average being over twenty. It has occurred here
that not enough of this cereal has been raised during one of these
unfavorable years to suffice for. seed for the next. The vegetable crop,
however, more particularly the potatoe, being planted mostly on the
tule lands, never fails; over two hundred sacks of the latter being pro-
duced to the acre nearly every year.
SOLANO COUNTY.
This county, which has an average length of about thirty miles east
and west, with a width of twenty-eight miles, is bounded on the north
by Yolo; on the east by Yolo and Sacramento; on the south by Contra
Costa county, the Bay of Suisun and the Straits of Carquinez ; and on
the west by Napa county. This ranks among the most wealthy, popu-
lous and largely productive agricultural counties in California; it pro-
ducing the most hay of any one, and containing, next to Santa Clara,
the greatest amount of land fenced and under cultivation; and raising,
next to that county, the largest quantity of wheat of any in the State.
Nearly all the inhabitants, with the exception of such as reside in the
towns and villages, are employed in some of the various departments
of farming, fruit growing, or stock raising.
The surface of the county consists mostly of fertile valleys, tule
lands, undulating prairies and high rounded hills — there being no
mountain ranges or isolated peaks within its limits. Some portions of
the tule bottoms, which embrace an area of ninety thousand acres,
having been reclaimed, are found to make valuable garden, grain and
meadow lands — the crops planted upon them never failing, however dry
the season. The whole country, even to the summits of the highest
hills, was criginally covered with wild oats, bunch and other native
grasses; large areas of which undisturbed by the plough still remain,
furnishing abundant pasturage for the extensive herds of stock that
feed upon it winter and summer. The soil nearly everywhere is a rich,
clay loam; that in the valleys and along the streams being deep and
extremely productive. Including the tule marshes, fully two thirds of
the land in the county may be considered arable, the balance affording
at least enough grass to render it valuable for sheep and cattle ranges.
Solano, though tolerably well watered by a number of small streams
and sloughs running across it, is one of the most sparsely timbered
counties in the State; the prairies and hills being barren of trees of
any kind whatever, while the growth along the water courses, origin-
ally limited in extent, is now nearly all cut away. It contains no quartz
20
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306 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
mills or mining ditches — no metaliferotis deposits of importance having
ever been found within its borders. There is, however, on the hills
near Snisun valley, an extensive and valuable bed of marble, which
has been worked for the past ten or twelve years, and from which con-
siderable quantities of stone have been taken both for ornamental and
building purposes. Some of the blocks broken out here have been of
large size, frequently measuring from seven to nine himdred cubic feei
This marble, which is fine grained and compact, readily receiving a high
polish, bears in its rough state a strong resemblance, in color, to rosin.
The chips, and such pieces of the stone as are unfit for dressing, are
burned into lime, of which they make an excellent article.
In the hills adjacent to Benicia, a species of lime stone, lying in
small veins, is found, from which is made a very superior hydraulic
cement. After being quarried, this rock is burned in kilns and then
ground into an impalpable powder, extensive works having been erected
near the quarries for the purpose of burning and grinding it. Near
this town, as well as at several other points in the county, are located
mineral springs, some of which are much resorted to on account of the
sanitary properties of their waters.
The assessable property of Solano, in 1866, was set down at $4,042,-
000, and the population at 15,000 — both of which have since been some-
what augmented. It contains two considerable towns — Benicia^ on the
Straits of Carquine^ with a population of 1, 600, and Vallejo, three miles
to the northwest, with a population of about 2,000. The former was
laid out in 1847, and being at the head of ship navigation on the waters
of the bay, and thirty miles nearer the interior than San Francisco, it
became at one titne a sharp competitor with the latter for the position
of commercial metropolis of the Pacific. Failing in this, it became
twice the capital of the State, the inhabitants having put forth strenu-
ous efforts to make it the permanent seat of the State government
The extensive foundries and machine shops of the Pacific Mail
Steamship Company having for many years been located here, have
added much to the popidation and business of the place. One mile
east of the town are located the arsenal and barracks belonging to the
General Government, an important auxiliary to the trade of Benicia
and the coimtry adjacent. The local industry of the place is further -
aided by the extensive cement works situated near it — ^by two tanneries,
employing quite a large force of hands, producing considerable quanti-
ties of excellent leather, and by a first class flouring mill, recently
erected, carrying five run of stone, and capable of grinding four hun-
dred barrels of flour daily.
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COUNTIES OF CALIFOBNIA. 307
This town has for many years been distinguished for the number
and high literary character of its institutions of learning, some of them
being among the earliest established in California^ and all ranking
with the most popular and flourishing establishments of the kind now
existing in the State. Chief among these literary institutions is the
Benicia Female Seminary ; the Benicia College and Boarding School,
and the St Catharine's Academy, conducted by the Sisters of Si
Dominic, together with a liberally patronized and efficient Law School.
Vallejo, founded in 1850, became afterwards, like Benicia^ an aspi-
rant for the State capital, which, having been located there in January,
1852, was soon after removed, the terms stipulated for on the part of
the State having failed to be complied with. The United States have
established here a Navy Yard, which, though but partially completed,
has been projected on a scale so grand and perfect that it promises to
be, when finished, one of the most complete and extensive works of
the kind in the world, the entire cost involving an expenditure of some
eighteen or twenty million dollars.
An area of thirty acres of land, exclusive of water surface, having
been secured by the General Government on Mare Island, opposite
the town, and the whole having been graded to the proper level, there
have since been erected upon it immense storehouses, smitheries, foun-
drieSy carpenter and machine shops, timber sheds, and quarters for
officers and workmen, the whole constructed of brick, on the most
improved plans and in the most substantial manner. Stone quays,
sectional dry docks, basins and railways — a magazine, shell-house and
cisterns, and other necessary appurtenances have here beeii built, all
with a view to the greatest attainable efficiency and permanency, and
on a scale, not only equal to the present wants of the navy and the com-
mercial marine of the Pacific coast, but adequate to the vastly increased
demands upon the capacities of a work of this kind that are likely to
grow out of the future. In cases where private dry docks are insuf-
ficient to accommodate merchant vessels, they can be put upon the
Government works by simple payment of expenses of repairs, and of
operating the same.
Vallejo is a pleasant and prosperous town, enjoying, by virtue of its
position, certain natural advantages which, if properly improved, can
scarcely fail to make it a place of considerable industrial activity and
commercial importance. Possessing an equable and salubrious climate ;
capable of being approached by vessels of the largest burden; backed
by a rich agricultural district, and likely to be the terminus of one, and
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308 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNLL
perhaps several railroads, connecting it with points further in the
interior, it seems destined to be a town of much future importance.
Fairfield, the county seat, a village containing four or five hundred
inhabitants, is situated on the east side of Suisun Slough, near the
center of the county.
Suisun City, located one mile south of Fairfield, and having a popu-
lation of about one thousand, is a town of considerable local impor-
tance, being at the head of steamboat navigation on the slough, which,
up to this point, is much wider and deeper than any of the other navi-
gable sloughs of the State. Steamers run direct from this place to
San Francisco daily, whence it is distant fifty-four miles. Numerous
small sailing vessels also ply constantly between these two points, this
being the embarcadero for more than half the products of the county.
The town, which is ten miles in a straight line from Suisun Bay, and
sixteen by the slough, is surrounded by tule lands to the extent of one
mile on every side, the site being scarcely more than a foot above the
water at ordinary stages, and being overflowed by the spring tides,
except such lots as may have been raised by filling them in with earth,
or protected by embankments. Fairfield, occuping a site on the edge
of the tule marsh, is located on the line of the projected railroad route
from Benicia to Marysville.
At Vacaville, a town of 400 inhabitants, situated in a rich agricul-
tural district, twenty miles northeast of Fairfield, there is a flourishing
literary institution, known as the Pacific Methodist College. CoUins-
ville, a landing on Suisun Bay, near the mouth of the Sacramento
river, is worthy of note as being a point at which the steamers plying
between San Francisco and Sacramento touch during the salmon sea-
son, and take on large numbers of these fish, more being shipped here
tiian at any other place in the State.
From Eio Vista, a town of two hundred inhabitants, twenty miles
above, many of these fish are also sent every day to San Francisco.
Silveyville, Maine Prairie, Denverville and Eockton are small rural vil-
lages situate in different parts of the county, containing each from fifty
to three hundred inhabitants.
According to the Assessor's reports for 1866, there were 480,000
acres of land enclosed in Solano that year, of which 175,800 were
under cultivation. One hundred and forty-one thousand acres sown
to wheat and 21,000 to barley, produced, the former 2,117,250, and
the latter 525,000 bushels. The estimated area planted to these
grains, in 1867, was 160,000 acres of wheat and 18,000 of barley. In
1866, four hundred acres of oats yielded 8,200 bushels ; 10 acres of
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNU. 309
rye yielded 190 bushels ; 610 acres of Indian com yielded 10,800 bush-
els, and thirty acres of buckwheat yielded 675 bushels. Twenty-three
thousand five hundred tons of hay were cut, and 3,300 pounds of to-
bacco were raised, the latter on seven acres of land. The product of
butter for the year was 60,000 pounds ; of cheese, 15,000 pounds ; of
honey, 2,500 pounds, and of wool, 280,000 pounds. The grape vines in
the county numbered 950,600, from the vintage of which 84,350 gal-
lons of wine and 5,470 of brandy were made. Solano, while it raises
a good many apples, peaches, and pears, is not remarkable as a fruit
growing county. In 1866 it contained 8,440 horses; 1,470 mules;
35,600 sheep; 12,300 hogs, and 14,215 head of neat cattle. There
are three steam flouring mills in the county, the whole carrying nine
run of stone, and having cost in the aggregate about $100,000.
SACRAMENTO COUNTY.
This county, deriving its name from the Sacramento river flowing
along its western border, is bounded northerly by Sutter and Placer,
easterly by El Dorado and Amador, southerly by San Joaquin, and
westerly by Solano and Yolo counties. Its average length, measured
north and south, is thirty-six, and its width about thirty miles; giving
it a superficial area of six hundred and ninety-one thousand two hun-
dred acres. The surface, with the exception of a strip six or eight
miles in width on its eastern side, which rises into low ridges and roll-
ing prairies, is almost entirely leveL Stretching along the Sacramento
river is a belt of tule land, which continuing quite narrow until it has
reached the middle of the county, gradually expands to a width of
fifteen or sixteen miles. Skirting this tule marsh is a strip of rich
alluvial soil, varying in width from two to five miles, where, the surface
gently rising, the soil becomes more light and gravelly, and is less cer-
tain of producing good crops except in extreme wet seasons. The low
hills to the east of this belt, possessing a warm red soil, bring good
crops of grain when carefully tilled and the season is not imusually
dry. Upon these hills grow scattered oak trees; the timber elsewhere,
consisting mostly of oak, sycamore and cottonwood, being confined
chiefly to the alluvial flats and the banks of the streams. The timber
belt along the Sacramento was at one time so broad and dense as to
render the navigation of that stream difficult by sail vessels, this
craft often being several days making the passage even with a favor-
able wind from the mouth of the river to the Embarcadero, as the land-
ing where Sacramento city now stands was called prior to and for some
time after the American occupation of the country.
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310 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALTFORNU.
Flowing across the northern end of the county, from northeast to
southwest, is the American river; the Cosumnes running centrally across
it in the same direction. Dry Creek, haying a nearly parallel course,
separates this from San Joaquin county. The two last named streams
reach the Sacramento through the broad expanse of tule marsh by
many devious channels ; the whole constituting such a labyrinth of
creeks, lakes and sloughs, that only those well acquainted with them
can attempt their passage with safety. The main Sacramento river,
also separated as it flows south into diverse branches called sloughs,
some of which are very intricate, runs across the broad tule bottoms
in crooked channels, cutting them up into numerous small and several
large islands. The same is the case with the San Joaquin river in the
next county south, where there is a still greater area of these marshes,
and where this system of islands and sloughs is still more wide spread
and complicated.
The county of Sacramento, apart from its agricultural and mineral
wealth, the latter considerable and the former very large, enjoys many
advantages, some being the result of the enterprise and sagaciiy of its
inhabitants, and others incident to its geographical position. Owing to
these auspicious circumstances and its favorable location, the industries
of the city and county have been considerably varied — commercial,
farming, and mining pursuits engrossing the attention of the inhabit-
ants in an almost equal degree, while manufacturing and mechanical
pursuits have not been neglected.
Situated at the head of navigation for large vessels on the Sacra-
mento, backed by a rich farming and mineral region immediately adja-
cent, and connected with the more remote interior by means of well
constructed wagon roads and railways, and with the country above by
rivers navigable for smaller craft, its trade, already large, is likely to
attain still greater proportions in the future. The manufacturing
interests of the city and county, though not yet much diversified, are
quite extensive, consisting of nearly all the occupations and callings
found in California.
In the ciiy is the large foundry and machine shop of Goss & Lam-
bard, manufacturing every manner of engine and machinery made from
iron, brass, or copper, and having a capacity to employ a hundred
workmen. The products of these work«, which are large, have a good
reputation throughout all the central and northern mining districts of
California and the State of Nevada. The Union Iron Works, lately
much improved and enlarged, are also doing a prosperous business.
The immense workshops of the Central Pacific Bailroad Co. employ a
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COUNTIES OF CALIFORNU. 811
large force of hands, and contribute materially to the wealth and pros-
perity of the city. Three steam flour mills, the Lambard, with four,
the Phoenix, with three, and the Pioneer, with six run of stone, having
a joint capacity to turn out eleven hundred and fifty barrels of flour
daily, are kept constantly busy during the grinding season ; there
being two other flouring mills in the county — one of a single run of
stone, at Michigan Bar, and one of four run at Folsom. The Granite
Mill, at Ashland, carrying five run of stone, not long since destroyed
by fire, is about to be rebuilt.
Besides these mills and works, there are in the city two steam saw
miUs, of large capacity, one having a planing machine and a sash and
blind factory attached. There are also two door, sash and blind facto-
ries, run by horse power ; an iron door and shutter factory, two pot-
teries, a broom, a soap, a glue, and a candle factory, with many minor
establishments, making various articles of utility, and giving profitable
employment to local capital and a large aggregate number of workmen.
The city abounds with spacious halls erected for the use of various
benevolent and literary associations and orders, contains a number of
good hotels, several fine edifices erected for the purposes of religious
worship, amusement, the making of laws, and for the administration of
justice — ^the county court-house, used also for the sessions of the State
Legislature, being one of the best constructed buildings in the country.
Here is now being erected the State Capitol, an edifice which, when
completed, will not only surpass in the grandeur of its proportions,
the splendor of its architecture, and the durability of its materials,
all other structures on the Pacific coast, but which will compare favor-
ably with any of the capitol buildings of the older States.
Sacramento city contains a number of high schools of acknowledged
excellence, has an efficient fire department, extensive gas and water
works, several large well selected libraries apart from that belonging
to the State, and can justly boast of a newspaper press hardly second
to any other, whether here or elsewhere, in point of ability and enter-
prise.
Located in the edge of the town are the extensive groimds, with
booths and other necessary appendages, of the State Agricultural Soci-
ety; the elegant and spacious pavilion, erected by the citizens for the
use of that institution, being within the limits of the city. Eunning out
of Sacramento are two railroads, one extending to Shingle Springs,
El Dorado county, a distance of forty-six and a half miles, and the
other, the Central Pacific, running across the Sierra Nevada, and now
completed to a point distant one hundred and fifty miles east of the
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812 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
city, with the prospect of being extended at least three hundred mileff
further by the end of 1868.
Spanning the Sacramento river, opposite the city, is the Tolo
Bridge, eight hundred feet long and twenty-eight wide, one of the
finest structures of the kind in the State, and built so substantially
that it has been able to resist all the floods occurring since its erection.
There are several other costly bridges in the county, built for viaducts
or aqueducts across the American and Cosumnes rivers.
Not a city in California has suffered more frequently and severely
from conflagrations and floods than Sacramento, it having been exten-
sively damaged by the latter on several occasions, and been two or
three times swept nearly out of existence by fire. It has also been
the scene of violent and bloody contentions growing out of conflicting
land titles, from all of which, aided by its natural advantages, and
sustained by the persevering spirit of its people, it has managed to
recover, advancing steadily in wealth, population and business. In
its numerous fireproof buildings and extended water works, the city
now finds ample protection against further sweeping conflagrations,
while in its system of broad levees, encompassing it on every side, it
enjoys an almost certain immunity from disastrous floods.
The city, which besides being the State Capital, is also the county
seat, is shown by a recent census to contain 15,987 inhabitants, 8,374
of whom are white males, and 6,243 white females, the balance con-
sisting of the colored and mixed races, five hundred of the number
being Chinese.
Folsom, the next important town in the county after Sacramento
city, whence it is distant twenty-two miles in an easterly direction,
contains about eighteen hundred inhabitants. Being on the railroad,
and surrounded by a considerable scope of mining country, as well as
a good farming district, it enjoys an active local trade ; the extensive
granite quarries in the neighborhood also giving employment to many
hands. Near the town, on the banks of the American river, most of
the cobble stones used for paving the streets of San Francisco are
collected.
Mormon Island, three miles east of Folsom, is a mining town with
a population of three or four hundred. Gold washing was commenced
here within a few days after its introduction at Sutter's mill, having
first been engaged in by the Mormons — whence the name. The bar
at this place, though long since exhausted, was originally very rich,
the discoverers having taken out large sums in a short time. There
are still moderately good diggings in the river banks and flats about
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA* 813
the town ; the country for ten or twelve miles in nearly every direction
around Folsom being auriferous, and some spots paying more than
average wages. There are a number of other small towns in this
county, the most of them situated in the agricultural districts, contain-
ing each from fifty to three hundred, inhabitants, the population of the
entire county numbering about twenty-four thousand.
Besides a number of rich bars originally found on the American
and Cosumnes rivers, within the limits of this county, there is along its
eastern border an auriferous belt, six or eight miles wide, which, for a
few feet on the surface, and in some places to a much greater depth,
has been found to pay remimerative wages. For the purpose of sup-
plying water to these diggings and others lying in the adjoining county
of El Dorado, a number of canals have been dug the length of these
works, within the limits of this county, being about thirty miles.
Although there are many promising quartz veins in Sacramento, they
have not yet been much prospected, only a single five-stamp mill hav-
ing been erected in the county.
The following data, derived from official sources, will convey a good
idea of the agricultural capacities, and of the products of this couniy,
for the year 1866: Number of acres of land enclosed, 213,261; under
cultivation, 92,520; wheat planted, 9,870 acres; barley, 38,147 acres —
yielding 192,170 bushels of the former, and 863,214 bushels of the lat-
ter. Of these grains, there were 5,400 acres of wheat, and 30,000 of
barley sown in 1867. In 1866, there were raised 19,230 bushels of oats,
34237 of Indian com, 553 of peanuts, 22,327 tons of hay, and 38,300
pounds of hops, together with large quantities of fruits^ vegetables
and other miscellaneous products. During the same year 379,350
pounds of butter, 12,000 of cheese, 269,365 of wool, and 15,519 of
honey were produced. The county then contained 93,303 apple, 89,067
peach, 36,830 pear, with a large number of other fruit trees. There
were 951,315 growing vines, from the vintage of which 63,879 gallons
of wine and 5,714 of brandy were made. The stock in the county con-
sisted of 8,873 horses, 1,828 mules, 12,144 head of neat cattle, 11,339
hogs, and 49,996 sheep. Touching certain products, mentioned above,
Sacramento is said to grow them of better qualiiy, if not, also with
greater facility than most other counties in California. Thus, the hop
grows here with great luxuriance, the quantity raised in 1867 having
been 160,000 pounds — ^more than four times as many as were picked
the year before — ^making this the largest hop producing county in the
State. So also with peanuts, of which there were 4,000 bushels gath-
ered in the same year; those raised in Sacramento possess, it is claimed,
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314 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
a superior flavor. The real and personal property in the couniy, omit-
ting mines, was assessed for the year 1866 at $9,443,601,
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
This county, named from the principal river flowing through it, has
an average width of about forty by a breadth of thirty-five miles, and
is bounded as follows, viz: By Sacramento county on the north; by
Amador, Calaveras and Stanislaus on the east; by Stanislaus on the
south, and by Alameda and Contra Costa counties on the west San
Joaquin is almost exclusively an agricultural county. At one time a
good deal of placer mining was carried on in its northeastern part, but
at present very little is being done in this or any other department of
mining. Neither have any important deposit of minerals or metals,
other than gold, been found here. The county occupying the lowest
point of depression in the great San Joaquin valley, the metaliferous
formations, except along its eastern border, have been deeply buried
beneath the heavy mass of alluvium and detritus washed from the sur-
rounding mountains — and thus placed beyond the easy reach of mining
exploration. That this deposit has a great depth, is shown by the fact
that an artesian well, sunk to the depth of one thousand and two feet,
failed to reach the bed rock, which probably lies much lower. While
so little attention has been given to mining, but a limited manufactur-
ing interest has been developed in San Joaquin, almost the sole pursuit
of the inhabitants having been agricultural or commercial — the trading
community of Stockton and the grain growers of the county at large
composing fully ninety per cent, of the population.
Of the 896,000 acres comprised within the limits of the county,
three-fourths, or perhaps a larger proportion, are capable, in favorable
seasons, of producing good crops of grain. Along the San Joaquin
river, which spreads out into numerous sloughs, there is, in the north-
western part of the county, an immense expanse of tule marsh — not
less in the aggregate than 200,000 acres, much of which is covered at
all times by a few inches of water, nearly the whole being submerged
at high stages of the tide. Late in the season, however, before the
streams have been raised by the winter rains, large sections of these
lands becoming dry on the surface — the dense body of rushes, the
growth of former years, having meantime wilted and dried up, the
latter often take fire, and burning with terrific fierceness for days in
succession, many thousand acres are burned over and stripped of both
the dead and living tules. In all the counties containing large tracts
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COUNTIES OF CAMFORNIA. 315
of tule lands, these fires are common, generally occurring in the fall
and winter. Nor are these conflagrations confined wholly to the rush
lands. They often break out in the grass and herbage, which late in
the summer become dry as tinder, and sweeping over the plains and
mountains, leave millions of acres scorched and blackened, though the
heat is not generally sufficient to injure the forest trees or larger
shrubbery.
This county contains no timber fit for making lumber, and very
little that answers even for fencing purposes. Most of the water courses
are lined with a narrow fringe of oak trees, a few of which are also
found scattered over the plains in the vicinity of Stockton ; but fully
three-fourths of the county is treeless, the banks of the San Joaquin,
unlike those of the Sacramento, being almost wholly without timber.
Lumber, however, is obtained at moderate rates from the heavily
wooded mountains to the east ; the teams engaged in hauling supplies
to the mining districts in that quarter, in the absence of other freight,
bringing back return loads of lumber, thereby rendering this article
cheap and abundant in Stockton, whence most of the county derives
its supply.
Though crossed by several large streams, this county is not gener-
ally well watered, many portions suffering from the long dry seasons
severely. This is especially the case with the districts lying west of
the San Joaquin river, as well also as with those stretching along the
base of the foot-hills in the eastern part of the county. The soil, how-
ever, being nearly everywhere deep and strong, the cereal crops are
almost imiformly good, their yield being generally above the average
tiiroughout the State. A large proportion of the soil in this couniy is
composed of a stiff black clay, known in California as ** adobe" land,
and which, though extremely fertile and capable of producing heavy
crops when in proper condition for receiving the seed, owing to its
retaining the water near the surface, is difficult to cultivate. In dry
winters it is easily managed, and more certain to bring a crop than
the sandy, gravelly soil, of which there is fortunately a great deal ;
patches of it often lying adjacent to the heavy adobe lands, giving the
farmers a chance to select such kind as seems best suited to the season.
Large portions of the rich bottom lands along the Mokelumne river,
and other streams in this county were seriously injured, some of it
wholly ruined by the sand and gravel brought down and deposited
upon them by the floods of 1867-8. These deposits varied in depth
from a few inches to ten or fifteen feet ; this mischief, unhappily, not
having been confined to this county alone, many of the alluvial bot-
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316 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIPOBNU.
toms along the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and their numerous
tributaries having suffered in like manner.
From the assessor's report are derived the following statistics touch-
ing the agricultural products of this county for the year 1866: Acres
of land fenced, 254,540; under cultivation, 123,855 ; sown to wheat,
69,132 — ^product, 1,139,911 bushels; sown to barley, 48,294 acres — ^pro-
duct, 92^000 bushels; 9,275 bushels of oate; 12,994 of rye, and 26,065
of Indian com were raised; 13,657 tons of hay were made from 14,629
acres of land; 325,615 pounds of butter; 9,465 of cheese; 130,618 of
wool, and 26,775 pounds of honey were produced; apple trees in the
county, 47,673; peach, 46,591; pear, 8,917, with considerable numbers
of plum, 'cherry, nectarine, prune, quince, apricot, almond, mulberry,
and fig trees; vines, 493,387; wine made, 23,347 gallons; brandy, 500
gallons; number of horses, 8,836; mules, 830; neat cattle, 13,195;
sheep, 26,278; goats, 650; swine, 13,000. There are in the county six
steam flouring mills, eighteen run of stone; but no saw mills or quartz
mills, neither vein mining nor lumber making being carried on here.
A few small ditches have been dug for irrigating purposes, but none
for conducting water into the mines, though one or two, lying mainly
in other counties, extend a short distance into this. The value of the
real and personal property in the couniy, fixed by the assessor at
$5,684105 for 1866; has been largely increased since — ^the wheat crop
of 1867, estimated at 1,686,566 bushels, being alone valued at $1,870,-
239. Lai^e areas of land have been fenced and brought under the
plough since the assessor's estimates were made for 1866 — the amount
of land now enclosed being over 300,000 acres, of which two thirds
are under cultivation. The breadth of land planted to wheat in 1867
was 91,790 acres.
The open and level character of the country rendering the building
of wagon roads not an absolute necessity, but few of these improve-
ments have been made within the county. Two graveled roadways,
however, have recently been completed, leading from Stockton across
the adobe flats, by which the town is surrounded to the higher and
firmer lands beyond — one of these having cost the sum of $15,000, and
the other $35,000.
The county, in its corporate capacity, has extended liberal aid
towards the construction of two important wagon roads across the
Sierra — the Sonora and Esmeralda, and the Big Tree and Carson val-
ley roads — ^issuing its bonds in the sum of $50,000 to eacL It has also
subscribed $250,000 to the stock of the Western Pacific Railroad,
designed to connect Stockton with San Francisco, and $100,000 to that
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COUNTIES OP CAUFORNU. 317
of the Stockton and Copperopolis Bailroad, both Kkely soon to be
built
The population of San Joaquin county numbers about 18,000; a
larger proportion of whom are women and children than is common in
most California communities. Stockton, the county seat and principal
city in this part of the State, contains about 6,000 inhabitants. It is
situated in the center of the county, at the head of a navigable slough,
running east six miles from the San Joaquin river. It is surrounded
by a rich agricultural district, and is connected by means of good
wagon roads with all the important mining counties lying to the east
and south. Stockton occupies a favorable commercial position, being
the entrepot and shipping point for an immense agricultural region, all
of which, together with the vast area of mining country lying beyond,
must draw from it the greater portion of their supplies. Even now it
may be said to command in a great measure the trade of nearly five
thousand square miles — a business that will be still further extended
when the several projected railroads to center here shall have been
completed. At present, there is a large number of sailing vessels, with
a daily line of steamers, plying between this place and San Francisco.
During the year 1867, the arrivals at the levee in this town were 619
steamers and 447 sail vessels; the former having a carrying capacity of
76,000 tons, and the latter of 70,000 tons; the whole representing an
annual freight and passenger traffic equivalent to 146,000 tons. Besides
the daily line of steamers running to San Francisco, there are three
small steamers plying on the San Joaquin river, which is navigable for
this craft, at favorable stages of water, for a distance of 150 miles
above Stockton. During the year 1867, there were shipped from this
place to San Francisco 864^233 bushels of wheat, valued at $1,141,878,
and 60,791 bushels of barley, valued at $34142. The wool, hides and
tallow sent away amounted in value to $216,258; poultry, eggs and
vegetables, to $142,462; wheat, barley and Indian com, ground, to
$697,378. The total valuation of the flour and meal ground in the
county amounted to $828,528, of which all but $131,256 in value was
the product of the mills in Stockton. Thus, it wUl be seen that there
was sent from this place, during the year mentioned, agricultural pro-
ducts alone amounting in value to $2,23^119. Besides these staples,
a greater or less quantity of minor commodities are every year
shipped here for San Francisco, or markets abroad — ^the shipments of
copper ore having, for several successive years prior to 1867, consti-
tuted an important item in the exports of this town.
While the business of Stockton consists chiefly in its trade and com-
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318 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
merce, certain mechanical and manufacturing industries have been
gradually growing up in the place, until some of these have attained to
very respectable proportions. The Globe Foundry and Machine Shop,
located here, has a good reputation for work done in its line — some of
the steam engines made thereat being in use in nearly all the adjacent
mining counties, and even in districts east of the Sierra Nevada-
There are also several tanneries in and around Stockton — some of them
quite extensive, and all enjoying a good reputation for the leather they
make. Most of the mechanical branches usual in towns of this kind
are carried on here, blacksmithing and wagon making being very exten-
sively engaged in.
Stockton having been laid waste several times by fire, enjoys in its
present efficient fire department, artesian water works, and numerous
brick buildings, a good degree of security against this destructive ele-
ment The artesian well sunk near the center of the city pours out
about three hundred and sixty thousand gallons of water per day, which
rises eleven feet above the orifice whence it issues, and nine above the
established grade of the city. It is soft and pure, and has a tempera-
ture of seventy-seven degrees as it comes from the ground. Though it
has now been flowing for more than ten years, the volume discharged
has suffered no abatement.
During the year 1867, over $200,000 were expended in the erection
and improvement of buildings in Stockton ; the ciiy having in the
meantime laid out $85,000 in raising and gravelling the levee and prin-
cipal streets, and the further sum of $50,000 on the two gravelled roads
before mentioned — ^making a total expended on these several improve-
ments of $335,000. Notwithstanding these heavy outlays, to which are
to be added the ordinary expenses of administering the ciiy govern-
ment, the local taxes for the year were reduced ten cents on the dollar;
the finances of both the city and county being in a highly flourishing
condition.
A savings' bank founded in Stockton in 1867 had over $500,000 on
deposit, and was paying good dividends within six months from the
time it was opened — the stock conmianding a handsome premium.
Within the present year a bank, with a capital stock of $250,000, has
been established in the place, the leading monied and business men of
the town and county being the subscribers for the stock.
While the material interests and industries of Stockton have been
thus wisely cherished and cared for, the religious, social and educa-
tional well being of the people has not been neglected. The town con-
tains fourteen churches and ten school houses — some of both classes
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA. 319
being large and handsome edifices. Several of the school houses are
used as academies and seminaries for instruction in the sciences and
higher branches of learning. Here a spacious and substantial court
house, standing in the center of a plaza ornamented with trees and
fountains, has been built by the county; while the State Lunatic Asy-
lum, consisting of an immense brick structure, with extensive wings
and out-buildings, all constructed after the most approved models for
establishments of this kind, occupies a beautiful grove of ancient oaks
on the edge of the town. Around it are extensive gardens and pleasure
groimds, a part cultivated to vegetables and a part planted with flowers
— the whole being penetrated by broad avenues and walks, and fur-
nished with seats and arbors, rendering it a fitting resort for the unfor-
tunate beings confined here for treatment
According to the very able report of the Superintendent, dated
October 1st, 1867, this institution then contained 769 patients, of whom
552 were males, and 217 females. During the year, 313 new patients
were admitted ; 125 were discharged, recovered ; 14 were discharged,
improved ; 89 died, and 9 made their escape. The ratio of recoveries
to the admissions has been 40 per cent ; the number of deaths, 8.80
per cent, of the whole number treated, which does not vary much from
the average since the founding of the institution in 1851«
STANISLAUS COUNTY.
This county, named after one of the principal rivers flowing through
it, is bounded on the northwest by San Joaquin county ; on the north-
east by Calaveras and Tuolumne ; on the southeast by Merced, and on
the southwest by Santa Clara county. It extends forty-eight miles
measured northeast and southwest, and about twenty-six miles in a
transverse direction, containing 798,720 acres, of which a large pro-
portion is choice farming land. In the easteru part of the county,
along the Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers, there were formerly good
placer mines ; but these having through many years of steady working
become greatly depleted, mining in this county now forms but a sec-
ondary branch of business, three-fourths of the inhabitants being
engaged in grain growing, dairying, and sheep and cattle raising.
The greater portion of the county is level, only the eastern portion
being somewhat* undulating, and in a few places broken into slight
ridges and ravines, while a strip a few miles wide on its western bor-
der rises into the Coast Bange, having here a general altitude of about
two thousand feet With the exception of a few scattered oaks along
the larger streams, and a sparse growth of the same trees interspersed
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320 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
with an inferior species of pine found on fhe eastern foot-hills^ the
county is destitute of timber. Owing to this circumstance it is also
without saw-mills, deriving its lumber supply, like San Joaquin and
most of the other agricultural counties, from the forests along the
lower slopes of the Sierra. The principal streams traversing it are
the San Joaquin, the Stanislaus, and the Tuolumne rivers, all flowing
in a generally northwest direction. Besides these, it contains only a
few small creeks and sloughs, mostly dry except in the rainy season.
Stretching along the San Joaquin is a belt of tule land, a mile or two
wide; the whole of which could easily be reclaimed, the most of it
being quite dry in the summer and autumn. Along these water courses,
especially the larger rivers, extend broad bottoms of exceedingly rich
soil, upon which the crops hardly ever fail, either from excess of rain
or drouth. Much of the land on the higher plains between the rivers
is also very productive ; and, like the river bottoms, the soil, being an
intermixture of sand and loam, is easily tilled, and when properly pre-
pared, almost certain to make a good crop.
While mining here is, as stated, but a subordinate interest, it still
gives employment to quite a large population, who pursue it chiefly in
the vicinity of Knight's Ferry, once a largely productive placer district,
and also to some extent on the Tuolumne river, a few miles further
south. Water to these diggings is furnished by five different ditches,
lying wholly or partially within the county, the sources of supply being
the Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers and Littlejohn's creek. These
several works have a united length of foriy-three mUes, a capacity to
discharge five hundred inches of water daily, and cost in the aggregate
about $180,000. Stanislaus contains no quartz mills, no auriferous
lodes having yet been developed here, if, indeed, any of known value
have been discovered.
The population of this county numbers about 3,500, of whom 600
reside in and aroimd Knight's Ferry, the county seat, and 250 at La
Grange, sixteen miles to the southeast Horr's Kanch, eighi; miles south
of the couniy seat, a small agricultural hamlet, Stanislaus ciiy, at the
jimction of the Stanislaus and San Joaquin rivers, and Tuolumne city,
at the head of steamboat navigation on the Tuolumne river, are the
only other villages in the county. The last two places being in a good
agricultural neighborhood, and approachable by small steamers, already
ship considerable quantities of produce every year, enjoying a lively
trade with the adjacent districts, and will, doubtless, increase as the
latter fill up with settlers.
In so far as the assessor's report for 1866 may be accepted as cor-
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNU. 321
rect, there were then in this county 60,100 acres of land enclosed
30,150 being under cultivation; 11,190 acres were sown to wheat —
product, 150,662 bushels ; 14308 were sown to barley — ^product, 181,-
349 bushels; 560 acres planted to Indian com yielded 15,560 bushels;
3,450 tons of hay were made from 3,530 acres of land mown; 50 acres
of broom com were planted — and 8,560 pounds of butter, 6,000 of
cheese, 264,600 of wool, and 6,000 of honey, were produced. The
numbers of horses, sheep, swine, cattle, etc., were as follows: Of
horses, 2,751; of mules, 255; of sheep, 75,600; of goats, 200; of swine,
6,127, arid of neat cattle, 5,273. Though fruits and vines thrive well
in this county, only a moderate share of attention has been given to
their culture, the total number of apple trees in 1866 having been but
6,017, and of peach of 3,069, the number of fmit trees planted of other
varieties having been quite insignificant. Of vines, there were 112,310
growing; the wine made that year amounting to 12,520; the brandy to
200 gallons.
There are two grist mills in the county, both driven by water, and
carrying jointly five run of stone. They cost about $40,000, and are
capable of grinding 180 barrels of flour daily. But few wagon roads
have been built in Stanislaus, the nature of the country not calling
for any large expenditure in this direction. The assessable value of
the real and personal property in the county was set down in 1866 at
11,204230.
MEBCED COUNTY.
This county, which receives its name from the Merced river, flowing
westerly through its northeastern part, is bounded on the northwest by
Stanislaus, on the northeast by Mariposa, on the southeast by Fresno,
and on the southwest by Monterey county. It has a longitude, meas-
ured easterly and westerly, of about sixiy miles, with an average breadth
of twenty-eight miles, giving it an area of 1,075,200 acres. Besides
the Merced, crossing it as described, the San Joaquin river nms cen-
trally through it, towards the north. In the southeastern comer of the
county are the following creeks heading in the foot-hills to the east
and flowing in a southeasterly direction, viz. : Black, Bum's, Bean,
Deadman's, and Cottonwood, together with the Mariposa and Chow-
chilla rivers, the latter forming in part the boundary between this and
Fresno county. These streams, though they aU dry up in the summer,
generally run full and sometimes overflow their banks during the rainy
season. In everything relating to soil, agriculture, topography, tule
lands and timber, the remarks made on Stanislaus coimty relative to
21
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822 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
these several topics will apply equally well to the county now under
consideration*
This county being, so far as discovery extends, without mines or
mineral deposits, except a small scope of unimportant placers in its
northeastern comer, contains neither quartz mills nor canals, save a few
irrigating ditches of limited dimensions. Merced is also without saw
mills — ^there being no timber here suitable for making limiber. Neither
have any manufacturing interests as yet obtained a foothold in the
county, though a woolen mill was in course of erection at the Merced
Falls in the early part of 1868, with every prospect of being carried to
an early completion. There are three flouring mills in the couniy, all
propelled by water, carrying six run of stone, and having a joint capa-
city to grind two hundred and forty barrels of flour daily — the amount
made in 1866 having been seven thousand five hundred barrels. These
mills cost^ in the aggregate about $35,000.
The population of Merced comity ntunbers about two thousand five
hundred. It contains no large towns ; Snelling, the county seat and
largest village, having but about two hundred and fifty inhabitants.
The following facts and figures relative to the agricultural products,
amount and valuations of property in this county, are taken from the
assessor's report for 1866 : Amount of land enclosed, 84,550 acres ;
under cultivation, 13,968 acres ; planted to wheat, 4195 acres — prod-
uct, 67,930 bushels; planted to barley, 9,661 acres — ^product, 114,750
bushels; wheat and barley planted in 1867, estimated at 4,764 acres of
the former, and 8,670 of the latter; Indian com raised in 1866, 17,345
bushels, on 534 acres ; 9,715 pounds of butter, 1,340 pounds of cheese,
373,000 pounds of wool, and 2,935 of honey, were produced that year;
from 100,740 vines, 10,910 gallons of wine, and 320 of brandy, were
made. Though fruits of all kinds do well here, their culture has not
been extensively engaged in. The following indicates the number of
domestic animals in the county in 1866, viz. : horses, 3,117; mules, 235;
asses, 40; sheep, 79,487; goats, 258; hogs, 12,483, and neat cattle,
30,146. The real and personal property in the county was assessed at
11,233,912.
FBESNO COUNTY.
This county derives its name from the Fresno river, a small stream
heading in the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, and fiowing westerly
through its northeastern part The term, signifying in the Spanish,
white ash, was applied to this river because of the number of these
trees originally found growing on its banks. This county extends
northeasterly and southwesterly a distance of one hundred and twenty
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNU. 323
miles; its average breadth being about sixty-five miles. It is bounded
as follows, viz: northerly by Merced and Mariposa^ easterly by Mono,
southerly by Tulare, and westerly by Monterey counties.
With the exception that the whole of its eastern part rises into the
high Sierra, the topography of Fresno bears a strong resemblance to
that of Merced county. Nearly a third of its territory comprising the
western part is extremely dry; the most of it so arid as to produce but
little grass, and being, at best, fit only for sheep pasturage. Here
there are no streams during the summer; the winter rains even, some-
times, fail to start the water running in the dry beds of the creeks.
Springs are also very scarce, exposing stock to severe suflfering in some
localities during the summer. The whole of this region consists of a
treeless plain, sloping gently from the foot of the Coast Range to the
slough, through which the waters of Tulare lake, at high stages, flow
northerly into the San Joaquin river. The soil on this plain is in some
places rich and deep, while in others it is gravelly and poor, being
incapable, even if it were susceptible of irrigation, of producing good
crops. In the coast mountains, which separate this from the county of
Monterey, there is not only more water and grass, but also a sparse
growth of oak and scrubby pine timber. The several plateaus, lying
between the rivers that traverse this county, are quite as badly off for
water, and as barren of timber, as the section described, though gen-
erally constituting a better cattle range, owing to their greater prox-
imity to water and better supplies of grass.
That portion of the county which is covered by the Sierra Nevada,
is nearly all extremely rugged — the western face of these mountains,
as well as the higher foot-hills, being cut by tremendous chasms,
through which flow King's river and the San Joaquin, and their tribu-
taries. The most of the good farming land in the county, of which
there is a large area, is situated along the rivers and sloughs — the
former consisting of a rich, loamy soil, and the latter mostly of tule
marshes. The reclamation of these marshes, which cover an area of
about twenty thousand acres, was undertaken some ten years since by
a party to whom the State made liberal grants thereof, conditioned on
the completion of a canal designed to effect their thorough drainage;
and which, after being partially constructed, was abandoned, leaving
the State still owner of these lands, and the latter remaining in their
origiQal condition. The plan proposed for their drainage was not only
feasible, bf t of easy accomplishment; and there is little doubt but it
will be carried out, at no distant day, either by the State or those with
whom it may contract for the performance of the work. With a ditch.
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324 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
such as was projected, once finished, these grounds would never again
be subject to overflow, rendering them among the most valuable
lands in the world — since the green and succulent pasturage they
at nearly all seasons afford, would fit them admirably for dairying pur-
poses, while the cereals, -and all the semi-tropical products, could,
without resort to irrigation, be raised here in the greatest perfection
and abundance. For the culture of cotton and tobacco, these tule
lands, if drained, would, beyond any question, be especially well
adapted.
The only streams of any magnitude in this county, consist of the San
Joaquin river, which, rising by several large affluents in the Sierra
Nevada, flows westerly till it reaches the middle of the great valley bear-
ing its name, when, having received the waters discharging through the
Tulare slough, it bends to the noi^thwest and pursues its course in that
direction; and King's river, a still, large stream, which, heading further
south in the same range of mountains, runs southwesterly till it enters
the belt of tule before mentioned, when, trending more to the south, it
empties itself into Tulare lake. Having its sources in the far recesses
of the Sierra, among peaks covered with perpetual snow, it carries at
all times an immense volume of water; and, alter reaching the plains,
flows through many interlacing and tortuous channels, forming innu-
merable islands, sloughs and lagoons, all of the richest soil and
heavily timbered, and constituting, with the broad alluvial bottoms
along its banks, one of the richest and most desirable farming districts
in the State. The timber growth here consists of sycamore, cotton-
wood, willow and oak, the latter predominating, and, being of large
size, affording an abundant mast on which great numbers of swine feed
and fatten, making the rearing of these animals, which is largely
engaged in, a lucrative business.
While Fresno contains a great deal of excellent land, its agricultu-
ral resources, owing to its remoteness from markets, have been but
very little developed. In the absence of recent authoritative data on
the subject, the following rough estimates are submitted as approxi-
mately indicating the amount of its products and wealth in this depart-
ment in the year 1866, to which an increase of fifteen or twenty per
cent., perhaps, should be added for gains since made. Number of
acres of land enclosed in 1866, 15,000; under cultivation, 4,500; to
wheat, 800 acres, and to barley 1,000 acres — the former producing 9,000
and the latter 17,000 bushels. Besides this, several thousand bushels
of Indian com were raised, and a small quantity of other cereals.
Although the soil and climate are well adapted to the growing of fruits
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COUNTIES OF CALIFORNU. 325
and vegetables, only enough of these are raised for home consumption,
the markets being too far distant to warrant their cultivation for sale.
There is a good deal of stock of nearly all kinds kept in this couniy,
many beef cattle being raised here for market, and wool forming one
of its Btaples of export. The value of the taxable property in 1867,
exclusive of mines, was estimated at one million dollars. There are
five saw-mills and one grist-mill in the county, all of moderate cost
and capacity, and with the exception of one driven by water.
The population of this county numbers about three thousand.
There are no towns of any magnitude in it ; Millerton, the county seat
and largest village, containing less than two hundred inhabitants.
During the flood of January, 1868, this place was nearly all swept
away — ^the San Joaquin river, on the bank of which it is situated,
having risen at this point twenty feet higher than was ever before
known, the water being at one time forty-six feet deep on the site of
the town. Great damage was at the same time done nearly all over
the county, in the destruction of fences, buildings, stock, etc., the
land in many places also being seriously injured in having the soil
covered up with sand and gravel, or in being entirely washed away.
Fort Miller, half a mile above the county seat, was, some years ago,
when the Indians in this section of country were troublesome, garri-
soned by several companies of soldiers. At present no troops are
permanently stationed at this place, cutting off the market that before
existed for many articles produced by the firmer.
Fresno City, located on the Tulare Lake slough, twenty-iive miles
above its junction with the San Joaquin, is a town with about half the
population of Millerton, whence it is distant forty miles to the south-
west Small steamers come up to this place throughout the greater
portion of the year, and there is little doubt but, keeping pace with
the growth of the country, it will in time come to be a village of con-
siderable size and importance.
The Chowchilla, Fresno, and San Joaquin rivers are all more or less
auriferous, though their banks and the bars along them have never
been extremely rich, nor the gold obtained of fine quality. They were,
nevertheless, formerly much worked, as portions of them, more espe-
cially along the San Joaquin, are still the theatres of active operations.
There are, however, no quartz mills in the couniy, vein mining for gold
never having been attempted. Neither are there any canals for con-
ducting water into the diggings, the miners depending on the high
stages of the river for water to work their claims.
Several years since a great number of copper beaiing lodes were
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326 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA.
discovered in rarious localities in this county. In manj' cases the sur-
face ore, and in a number of instances also, that obtained at consider-
able depths upon these veins was extremely rich. A large amount of
work in the aggregate was done, but not much applied at any one
point; wherefore, the real value of these lodes remains undetermined,
though the locators are generally satisfied of their permanence and
richness — a few opened to the depth of a hundred feet or more, display-
ing in their estimation sufficient volume and wealth to warrant this
•conclusion.
In the extreme western part of the county, situated in the Coast
Bange of mountains, is the New Idria Quicksilver Mine. Having been
opened some ten years ago under favorable auspices, and worked for
several years thereafter with satisfactory results, this mine was closed
by legal proceedings, and remained so until 1865, when work was
resumed, and has since been steadily kept up upon it, the force of
hands employed being between two and three hundred. The product
for the year 1866 was 6,045 flasks, and for the year 1867, 11,500 flasks—
the yield of the ore for the latter year having been seven per cent of
metaL
TULABE COUNTY.
This county, deriving its name from the large lake occupying its
northwestern comer, is the third in point of size in the State — only the
counties of San Bernardino and San Diego being larger. It extends
one hundred and thirty miles in a northwesterly and southeasterly
direction, and has an average width of one hundred miles, giving it an
area of eight million three hundred and twenty thousand acres. It is
bounded on the north by Fresno, on the east by Inyo and San Bernard-
ino, on the south by Los Angeles^ and on the west by Santa Barbara
and San Luis Obispo counties. A large portion of its surface is cov-
ered by the several chains of mountains that hem it in on three sides —
the Coast Bange on the west, the Sierra Nevada on the east, and the
transverse group crossing its southern part and forming the connecting
link between these two ranges. It thus takes the shape of a great basin,
rimmed in on every side but the north, and while it does not differ
widely in its topographical features from the valley counties further
north, it has a hydrography essentially unlike these — ^all the streams
flowing into Tulare lake, the common receptacle for the drainage of the
county. Several of these streams are of large size — King's, the Kah-
weah, Tule, and Kern rivers, discharging, particularly in the summer,
when the snow melts on the Sierra, immense volumes of water. That
these streams, pouring into this lake such a constant tide, should not
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COUNTIES OF OALIFOBKIA. 327
speedily so raise it as to innndate the adjacent coxmtry, has led to the
suggestion that there may be a subterranean passage connecting it with
the ocean through which a portion of these waters make their escape.
The great expanse, however, of this lake — thirty-three miles long and
twenty-two wide, and the broad area of the tule lands bordering it,
which, with a slight rise above its ordinary level, are converted into
immense lagoons^ would seem to afford sufficient space for these waters
to spread out until their volume can be reduced by evaporation — ^a pro-
cess that goes on very rapidly in the hot and desiccated atmosphere
that always prevails throughout this region in the summer.
All the streams mentioned, heading in the Sierra, flow through deep
and precipitous canons until they reach the plains, when they meander
through their broad and fertile bottoms — some of them separating into
several channels, forming wooded islands, after the manner described
in the case of King's river. The Kahweah is thus divided up into eight
or ten branches — ^though, when first discovered, under the supposition
that there were only four of these channels, the name " Four creeks "
was given to them collectively — a term which they have in that sense
ever since retained, though each has now an individual name of its own.
By the same appellation the country adjacent to these creeks has also
come to be known.
The most of these bottoms, as well as portions of the plains lying
between them, are covered with scattered oak trees of large size, and
which, though they are not worth much for making lumber, are ser-
vicable for fencing, and supply an abundance of good fuel. All that
part of the county Ijdng west and southwest of the lake is destitute of
timber, though the entire slope of the Sierra Nevada is covered with
majestic forests of coniferous trees, even to its very sxmimit.
About foriy-six miles northeast of Visalia, and at an elevation of
between six thousand and seven thousand feet, occur great numbers of
"Big Trees," not standing in groups and isolated groves, as in Cala-
veras and Mariposa counties, but scattered throughout the forests all
the way from Bang's river to the Kahweah, a distance of over forty miles,
and perhaps much further, the area over which they extend not having
been fully ascertained. From measurements made by the members of
the State Geological Survey, who visited this forest, the largest tree
standing, so far as they llad opportunity to observe, was one hundred
and six feet in circumference at the base, and two hundred and seventy-
six feet high. It had, however, been partially burnt away, and was
judged to have originally had a girth of between one hundred and fifteen
and one hundred and twenty feet. The body of a prostrate tree has
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828 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA.
been bnmt out to sncli an extent that it admits of a man riding into
the hollow tmnk for a distance of seventy-six feet, where he has room
to turn his animal without difficulty. At a distance of one hundred
and twenty feet from the butt, this tree is thirteen feet in diameter
inside the bark. There is a large number of these trees in this neigh-
borhood, many being, to all appearance, nearly as large as the one just
described, whUe those varying from ten to fifteen feet in diameter are
quite common.
Within the limits of this county, or standing on tiie line between it
and Inyo, are some of the highest and wildest peaks in tiie Sierra Ne-
vada. Here are the Dome mountains, 9,825 feet high, remarkable for
the regularity of their outline; Mt Williamson, still more striking and
lofiy; Mt. Kahweah, 14,000 feet high ; Mi Tyndall, 14,386 feet high ;
and, finally, Mt. Whitney, 15,000 feet above the level of the sea — the
highest peak in this range, and, probably, ihe most elevated land on
the continent of North America.
The population of Tulare is estimated at about six tiiousand, the
greater portion of whom are engaged in agricultural pursuits. Yisalia,
the couniy seat^ contains about one thousand inhabitants. It occupies
a handsome site on one of the branches of the Kahweah river, the land
being level, fertile, and covered over, for many miles around, with large
oak trees. It is surrounded with gardens^ orchards, vineyards, and
well cultivated fields, the soil here being well adapted to the production
of almost every fruit or plant grown in Calif omia, and remarkably pro-
lific. The means for irrigation, generally necessary where the soil is
light and sandy, are never failing and ample. On the heavier adobe
soil crops of grain can be made, if properly put in, without this aid.
Visalia contains besides its public schools, a well conducted and fiour-
ishing seminary, a handsome court-house, several halls, churches, and
other public edifices, many fireproof stores, and a large number of
tasiy cottages and mansions, nearly all occupying large lots planted
with trees, vines, and fiowers. Being centrally situated, and the only
town in the county of any size, it enjoys an active trade, which is every
year expanding as the country around it fills up with settlers.
From the assessor's reports for 1866, it appears that the taxable
property of the couniy was that year valued at $1,299,379 ; the amount
of land enclosed was 24,939 acres ; imder cultivation, 7,139 acres ; in
wheat, 3,092 acres, yielding 51,581 bushels ; and 2,400 in barley, which
yielded 49,642 bushels. Of these grains there were sown the following
year, 3,448 acres of wheat, and 3,035 of barley. In the year 1866,
6,945 bushels of Indian com were raised, 240 of buckwheat, and large
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COUNTIES OP CALIFORNIA. 329
quantities of fruits and vegetables ; 7,425 pounds of butter, 4,070 of
cheese, 156,650 of wool, and 7,500 of honey were produced. The
county contained 7,694 horses, 287 mules, 70,152 sheep, 166 goats,
8,802 hogs, and 31,597 head of neat cattle.
This is an excellent section of country for sheep, swine and cattle
raising. Owing to the heat of the climate in the summer, remoteness
from market, etc., dairying is not extensively carried on — ^the most of
the cattle raised being intended for the shambles. Wool growing,
however, is increasing rapidly ; while it is doubtful if swine can be
raised and fattened in any other part of the State with the same facility
as here. These animals being marked with the owner's brand, after the
maimer of sheep and cattle, are suffered to run at large in the tule
swamps, where they not only grow, but soon become extremely fat^
feeding on the roots of these plants and on fresh water mussels found in
great quantities about the margin of the lake. Swine thus left, being
thereafter little cared for, and rarely seeing human beings, soon become
quite wild, making it necessary for the owner to shoot them when he
wishes to secure the carcass. Cattle thrive in this region the year
round without housing or fodder, being rarely ever pinched by hunger
or suffering from cold*
Tulare contains two grist mills, carrying each two run of stone, and
having a capacity to grind 130 barrels of flour daily; the one is driven
by water, and the other by steam — their aggregate cost having been
about $25,000. The flour ground in 1866 amounted to 10,250 barrels.
There are three saw mills in the county, carrying five saws, and capable
of cutting 20,000 feet of lumber per day.
The only mining carried on in Tulare consists of operations in
quartz, the business being mostly confined to the vicinity of White
river. There are four mills at this place, carrying in aU twenty-five
stamps, and costing in the aggregate $40,000. They have all been
running with a good average degree of success; the lodes at this place,
though not large or numerous, being compact, and carrying a good
body of fair grade ore.
No water ditches have been constructed in the county except such
as are designed for bringing water upon the land. Of this class, there
are about fifty, aU of limited capacity — ^the area of land irrigated
amounting to 4^000 acres.
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CHAPTER IV.
CLIMATE.
General Remarks— Temperature— Extremes of Heat and Cold— Winds— The Sea Breeze-
Northers — Sontheasters — Bains — Storms — Clond and Mist — Snow and Hail — Thnndei
and Lightning — Relations of Climate to Agiicoltnre and other Pnrsoits— Health, Do-
mestic Economy, etc.
In this outline of the climate of California minute details and the
scientific investigation of causes are avoided, and a practical view of the
subject is presented to ihe reader, with especial relation to the capaci-
ties of the country, and the comforts and industries of tiie people.
"f-The climate of California is too much varied to be considered as a
whole. It might be regarded almost as a heterogeneous mixture of the
tropical and the arctic. From the Capital city, under the noonday sun
of the summer solstice, with a temi)erature of from 90 to 100^, exceeding
the extreme summer heat of the Atlantic States^ you will see the snows
glistening on the Sierras at no great distance. And by taking the cars
on the trans-continental railroad, a few hours of travel will transport
you to an arctic landscape. On the other hand, embarking on the
steamer for San Francisco, at two o'clock in the afternoon, and travel-
ling in the opposite direction, before night you are shivering in the cold
sea breeze which sweeps up the bay.
It is not necessary to journey so far in order to experience the same
transition. You have only to cross any of the mountain walls which
separate the ocean and bay from the interior, and which dam out the
cold ocean atmosphere.
^ There are essentiaUy two climates in California, the land climate and
the sea climate. The latter derives its low temperature from the ocean,
the water of which, along the coast, stands at from 52^ to 54^, all the year
round. The evenness of tiie ocean temperature is owing to a steady cur-
rent from the north, which is accompanied also by winds in the same
direction during ike entire summer season, or rather from April to Octo-
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CLIMATE. 331
ber inclusive. Almost daily, during this period, a deluge of cold, damp
air, of the same temperature as the ocean over which it has passed, is
poured upon the land. , It is mostly laden with mist, in dense clouds,
which it deposits at the foot-hills and on the slopes of the highlands,
or carries a short distance into tiie interior wherever there is a break
in the land-wall.
^The land climate is as nearly as possible the opposite in every
respect. In summer and autumn it is hot and dry. It undergoes vari-
ous modifications from the configuration of the surface of the earth.
Even the mountains, which retain the snow till a late period, present a
high temperature in the middle of the day ; and the presence of snow
on their summits in June is owing to the great mass which has accu-
mulated on them, rather than to cold weather.
N A large district of territory lies between the jurisdiction of the two
climates, and subject to their joint influence. It is composed chiefly
of valleys surrounding the bay of San Francisco, and penetrating into
the interior in every direction. There is no climate in the world more
delightful than these valleys enjoy, and no territory more productive.
Whilst the ocean prevents the contiguous land from being scorched in
summer, it also prevents it from being frozen in winter. Hence, ice
and snow are not common in the ocean climate. The difference in tem-
perature is comparatively slight between summer and winter.
Vv The cold of winter in the interior is not intense, e^en on mountain
elevations, with the exception of the tier of counties in the extreme
north. Its degree depends much, however, on the altitude of the
localiiy. The severity of winter is due, not to extreme cold, in any
part of California, but to violent and prolonged snow storms in one
section, and cold and prolonged rains in others.
It is interesting to cast the eye over the map of the State, and trace
out climatic modifications as governed by topography. First, look at the
long range of coast, the slope of which, as far back as the first moun-
tain wall, is under the control of the ocean, and has the most uniform
of climates. It is a narrow strip of territory, the only part of the State
preserved from desiccation in summer by daily showers of mist, and,
therefore, admirably adapted to dairy purposes. Then survey the
counties bordering on the great bay — Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Con-
tra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo, borrowing one half
their climate from the ocean and the other half from the interior; inex-
haustible in agricidtural resources, and forming the granary of the
Pacific. The Pajaro and some other valleys farther south, to which
the sea winds gain access, belong to the same system ; and those also
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332 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
of the Sacramento and San Joaqnin, althoogh in a lesser degree, being
farther removed from the ocean. Then regard the mountain region,
with its countless little valleys, buried up with snow in winter, bursting
forth into a paradise with the spring, and converted into furnaces by
the summer s sun, and yet luxuriant with all kinds of delicious fruits.
In this section are concentrated the mining interests. Finally, view
the southern section, embracing one fourth of the State, removed alike
from both extremes which operate in the north, controlled neither by
mountain nor ocean, and enjoying the most genial temperature — a sec-
tion of country wanting only in the certainty of winter rains to make it
an Eden.
After these general remarks, let us proceed to a more definite view of
the subject, taking the climate of San Francisco as a stand-point and
basis of comparison. This is proper, not only because the metropolis
is the center of population, containing one fourth the inhabitants of the
State, but because its climate is a type of that of the coast and bay
regions. We will first consider the temperature.
TEMPERATUBE— EXTREMES OF HEAT AND COLD.
'^ The record of the climate of San Francisco, as kept by Dr. Henry
Gibbons, extending from the autumn of 1850 to January, 1868, a period
of seventeen years, shows the coldest weaiher during that time to have
occurred in January, 1854, when the mercury fell as low as 25^. The
coldest noonday for the same period was 37*^. Persons who do not rise
early may see no ice in that city for several years in succession. When
it is cold enough to preserve ice in the shade all day the circumstance
is noted as a phenomenon. It is not uncommon for the entire winter
to pass away without bringing the thermometer down so low as the point
of freezing. In the year 1853 it fell at no time lower than 4(P, or eight
degrees above the freezing point.
"V" The extreme of heat in the same period occurred on September 10th
and 11th, 1852, when the thermometer reached 97^ and 98^ on the two
days respectively. This, however, was entirely exceptional, and might
not again occur in half a century. The air was dry as a sirocco, and had
a cmious effect on the wood-work of houses, causing a constant crackling
noise, from the shrinking of the timber, and the plaster breaking on
the wooden partitions. In a locality somewhat exposed to reflected
heat from the sun, and where the temperature was 100"^, a thermometer
with a wet bulb fell to 68^ — ^the evaporation reducing it thirty-two
degrees.
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CLIMATE.
333
With the exception just noted, the hottest day in the seventeen years
was on the 6th of July, 1867, when the thermometer stood at 93^. In
October, 1864 ^^^ ^^ September, 1866, it reached 91^; and in July,
1855, it rose once to 9(P. Thus, it appears there were but six days in
seventeen years when the temperature was as high as 90^, and only two
of these six days were in the summer months.
The absence of warm weather in the summer months is character-
istic of the coast climate and strikes a stranger forcibly. The most
ordinary programme of this climate for the year is as follows, beginning
with the rainy season : The first decided rains are in November or
December, when the country, after having been parched with drought,
puts on the garb of spring. In January the rains abate and vegetation
advances slowly, with occasional slight frosts. February is spring-like,
with but little rain. March and April are pleasant and showery, with
an occasional hot day. In May the sea breeze begins, but does not
give much annoyance. In June, just as warm weather is about to set
in, the sea breeze comes daily, and keeps down the temperature. It
continues through July and August, occasionally holding up for a day
or two, and permitting the sun to heat the air to the sweating point.
In September the sea wind moderates and there is a slight taste of sum-
mer, which is prolonged into the next month. The pleasant weather
often lingers in the lap of winter, and is interrupted only by the rains
of November or December.
By running the eye over the following table, a general idea can be
gained of the coast climate as regards temperature. The first column
represents the average temperature of each month at sunrise, for seven-
teen years; the second, at noon ; and the third, is the mean of the
other two.
Months.
MeanatSmirise.
Mean at Noon.
Monthly Mean.
January
d
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
5a
53.5
53.
49.
45.
49.5
5?.
60.
63.
65.
64.
68.
67.
67.
69.5
68.
62.
55.
6a7
58.
F^^bmary
5a 5
March
55.5
April
57.
lUy
57.
Jxine
59.5
Julv
59.5
Aucnst
60.
SeDtember
61.
October
60.5
November.
55.5
Doc£mb6r , r . - ...^..^.t^T
50.
Yearly moan. r r . .
56.6
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334 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBKIA.
Observe, in the table, the regular increase from January to Septem-
ber, and the rapid decrease from October to December ; nine months of
increase and two of decrease. Notice, also, the uniform increase of the
night temperature as represented in the first column^ and the irregu-
larity in the noonday increase, the sea breeze arresting it in May, an4
the sun giving it an upward impulse in June, before tiie sea wind has
gained undisputed controL
Whilst the summer months are warmest in tiie interior, as in most
countries, a very different arrangement exists in tiie coast climate.
This is because the sun has entire control inland, within its mountain
intrenchments, and the ocean almost entire control of the coast slope
outside of those intrenchments. The two forces act inversely ; that is
to say, the more powerful the sim's heat in the interior, the more pow-
erful is the pressure and force of the cold ocean atmosphere without.
The heating power of the sun in the interior begins to decline after
midsummer, and the temperature then begins to falL But this lessens
the draught from outside and gives the sun greater calorific power over
the exterior atmosphere. Accordingly, with the diminution of the
force of the sea breeze in September, comes a slight touch of summer
along the coast. The sun, not having receded far from the tropic of
Cancer, avails itself of every opportunity to warm up the coasts and
gains a temporary triumph over the ocean in September, or sometimes
not till October. Hence, as the table shows^ September is the warmest
month in the year, and October next ; then comes August ; July, the
hottest month almost everywhere else, is the fourth here, or ranks as
such in connection with June ; next come April and May ; then March
and November; then February, and finally Januaxy and December, the
only winter months.
The mean annual temperature at San Francisco is 56.6, which may
be set down as the mean of the coast and bay climate. As we recede
from the ocean, the days are warmer and the nights colder, the sun
being the great disturber of temperature, and the ocean the great
equalizer. But the increase of the day corresponds so nearly with the
diminution of the night temperature, that the mean varies but Uttle
within the range of the sea breeze.
Washington and Bichmond, nearly in the same latitude as San Fran-
cisco, have a mean of 64 or 54}, two degrees colder than the latter. This
appears, at first sight, to be a small difference ; but its value is made
evident by reflecting that it is a difference for every day in the year —
each day of the year in San Francisco, from January to December, hav-
ing an average of two degrees higher than the corresponding day on
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CLIMATE. 835
tiie Atlantic border. Cold as our summers are in proportion to those
in the East, it appears that the winters are warmer, in still greater
proportion.
In the Atlantic States the mean annual temperature diminishes in
going northward about one degree for every degree of latitude. This
is the general rule in all climates. But the climate of California pre-
sents an extraordinary anomaly in this respect Along the coast, from
the moutii of the Columbia river to Monterey, a range of nine degrees
of latitude, the mean temperature varies but little — ^not more than three
or four degrees at most ; and even this difference does not correspond
exactly with the difference of latitude. On the other hand, the inte-
rior climate varies indefinitely, every valley having a climate of its
own. The summers, however, are generally hotter in the north. One
might start from Los Angeles, near the south line of the State, in
summer, and travel northward, inland, five or six hundred miles, and
find it growing hotter every day ; and he might go in a southeasterly
course less than half that distance, and arriving at Fort Yuma, on the
Colorado, he would find one of the hottest places in the world.
The sudden fluctuations of temperature, incident to the climate of
the Atlantic States, are unknown in California. We have none of those
angiy outbreaks from the northwest, which change summer to winter in
a few hours. The sea breeze is chilling enough, especially when it
comes in suddenly to reassert its sway, after one of tiie occasional
warm days of summer ; but the sea breeze can never bring the ther-
mometer below 52^.
In tiie summer months there is scarcely any fall of temperature
through the night in the coast climate. The early morning is some-
times clear, sometimes cloudy, but always calm. A windy morning in
'summer is imcommon at San Francisco. A few hours after sunrise the
clouds break away and vanish, and the sun shines forth cheerfully and
delightfully; not a breath of air is stirring. Towards noon, or a little
after, the sea breeze sets in, and the weatiier is completely changed.
From 65^ the mercury drops to 53^ or 54^ long before sunset, and at
that point it remains almost motionless till the next morning. This
is the order of things in three days out of four in June, July and
August.
In the climate of the coast the nights are never uncomfortably
warm. The extreme heat at 10 p. m. at San Francisco, for seventeen
years, was 76^. The thermometer reached this point on three different
nights ; on two nights it reach 75^^, on four nights 73^, on two nights
72^, and on five nights 7(P — ^making only sixteen evenings in seventeen
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836
THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNLL
years when it was warm enough at bed-time to sit out of doors with
thin clothing. The warmest morning in seventeen years was 69^. These
facts have special interest in relation to sleep.
Though the nights in the interior are not so uniformly cool, yet
there are few localities^ even in the valleys, where they are too warm
for sleeping, even though the day temperature may have reached KKP.
This is a remarkable feature of the climate of the Pacific States, and it
has an important bearing on the health, vigor, and character of the
population.
In the southeastern comer of the State is a section having a climate
of its own. It is known as the Colorado desert, and is comparatively
barren of vegetation, owing to the small quantity of rain which faUs
there. The mean temperature at Fort Yuma, though not exactly in tho
desert, is, in the month of July, upwards of 10(P at noon, and 90^ at
9 p. M. In contrast with this, is the winter climate of Yreka, near the
extreme northwest comer of the State, and representing a small alpine
section bordering on Oregon. During the stormy weather of January,
1868, when the thermometer at Maiysville and other localities in the
north was telegraphed as ranging from 25^ to 36^, at 8 A, M., the dis-
patches from Yreka placed it below zero day after day, and sometimes
1(F or V2P below. ♦
We will conclude the subject of temperature with a table, represent-
ing the mean of the several seasons at a number of prominent points in
California, and also farther northward. The first column gives the
temperature of the spring months, March, April and May; and so on,
the other seasons are arranged. The last column is the mean annual
temperature.
LocaUties.
Bprlng.
Summer.
Autnmxi.
Winter.
T«».
San Franciaoo
^.5
56.0
5G.5
54.0
60.0
72.0
52.0
52.0
53.0
51.0
49.0
(S.0
69.5
67.0
59.0
71.0
90.0
57.5
60.0
70.5
61.5
63.0
5^.0
61.0
60.5
57.0
64.5
75.5
53.0
55.0
52.0
54.0
51.5
5I0
46.5
49.0
51.0
52.5
57.0
43.5
47.5
35.5
42.5
39.5
^6
Sacramento
5ao
Benicia
5ao
Monterey*
55.5
San Diego
62.0
Fort Yuma
73.5
Hiimbnldt Bay*
5L5
Port Orford . T
5a 5
Dalles, Oregon
53.0
Astoria, Oregon
52.0
Jort Steliacoom, Washington Tor. .
51.0
There is this difference between the summer in the interior of Cali-
fornia and the Atlantic States — that in the former, it is unbroken by
* The figures for these localities are probably too low.
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CLIMATE. 337
the showers and storms which in other regions temper the heat and
give variety to the climate. From tiie beginning of June until Novem-
ber the skj is mostly unclouded, and the sun shines out brightly the
whole day.
WINDS : THE SEA BREEZE— NOBTHERS—SOUTHEASTERS.
Throughout the entire year, with the exception of the two months,
December and January, the prevailing winds of the coast climate are
from the west. Even in those two months, the west wind is often pre-
dominant In the winter and spring it is frequently accompanied with
showers, but never in the summer and autumn. The true " sea breeze,''
the great refrigerator of this coast, is free from rain. It is commonly
free from mist till June or July. It begins in February, and for
about one half of that month comes in gently towards sunset. In
March and April it is more frequent and sometimes strong. Its fre-
quency and force increase in May, and in June it is turbulent and sel-
dom absent. In July it reaches its acme of force. In August it is con-
stant, but not quite so violent. In September it is also constant, but
much diminished in force. In October it is lighter, and interrupted.
In November it is irregular, and it disappears as December ap«
proaches.
It might be said that there are no east winds in Califomia. The
lofty mountain ranges to the eastward prevent any general current from
that quarter. While the duration of the west wind, coming from one
eighth of the compass, is upwards of two hundred days in the year at
San Francisco, that from the east octant is not over two days. The
remaining portion of the year is divided between dry northerly and
damp, cloud-bearing southerly winds. Thus, the winds of Califomia
appear to belong to three systems :
1. The sea breeze, dependant on inland heat and ocean cold.
Though loaded with vapor, it mixes with the warm, dry air of the land,
and can produce no rain — the land air drinking up its moisture.
2. The land winds, from the north, which sweep through the en-
tire State in the winter, and are confined to the interior in summer.
They are cold in winter and hot in summer, but always dry. Occasion-
ally they come like a sirocco and bum up vegetation. Fruit is some-
times roasted on the trees by the combined influence of the sun and
wind. Along the coast the north wind is modified materially by ming-
ling with the ocean air.
22
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338 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA.
3. The south winds, which are warm, and come from {he ocean
loaded with moisture. They belong to the climate of winter and
spring. Coming along the coast line, their direction is modified by the
mountain ranges, and they become southeast winds; or by the pressure
of the ocean air, malfing them southwest winds. Mining with the colder
atmosphere as they travel northward, cloud and rain are the result
They are the storm winds of winter, often doing much damage to ship-
ping in ihe harbor, and prostrating trees in great numbers in the
mountains.
The sea breeze, besides controlling the climate of the coast and bay
region during nearly the whole year, modifies very much the summer
climate of the interior. Wherever there is a depression in the high-
lands of the coast, it pours in and spreads itself over the heated earth.
At the Golden Gate it has a fair sweep, and enters with great force,
striking the opposite shore of Alameda county, where its further pro-
gress is interrupted by the hills. It is then deflected northward and
southward, and following the course of the bay, at San Jos^ becomes
a northwest, and at Benicia a southwest wind. It continues its course,
spreading like a fan into all the valleys that open towards the bay. At
points most remote from the inlet> it arrives late in the day. Chilling
and unwelcome as it is to the inhabitants of the metropolis, its after-
noon visit is hailed as a blessing by those suffering from the swel-
tering heat of the interior. Within the range of the sea breeze the
trees indicate its course, by leaning in the direction towards which it
blows. Around the bay, where the winds are strong, the trees some-
times lean so as to rest their branches on the ground; or the branches
grow out only on the lee side, giving the tree the appearance of having
been cut down through the center — ^the windward half being removed.
Far inland, on the Sacramento river for instance, where the current of
air is always gentle, the trunks of the trees incline slightly to the north.
In such localities the tree is bpnt, not by the violence of the wind, but
by its constancy, the young branches being always pressed in the one
direction during the growing season.
The sea breeze, though often very strong, is never violent enough
to do any serious damage ; its force is limited. The norther, which is
most apt to occur as a prelude to winter, is not sufficiently strong to do
much mischief on land, though from its direction, sweeping the harbor,
its effect upon the shipping is sometimes disastrous. If the sea
breeze had the same direction, the harbor could scarcely be used in the
summer months. The storm-wind of winter, varying from southeast to
southwest, is often more violent than either ; it is the only wind that
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CLIMATE. 839
ever nnroofe btdldings in the city, a result that may happen once in ten
or fifteen years.
Each of these winds has its time of day, so to speak. The sea
breeze is invariably at its height at 2 or 3 p. M. ; it subsides by sunset
or sooner. The southerly storm-wind is apt to rise in the evening and
reacli its height about 2 or 3 a. m. ; it is not^ however, very regular in
its habits. The norther springs up in the night, is generally at its
height early in the morning, and subsides about noon.
Apart from the sea breeze, there is much less wind in California
tlian in the Atlantic States. At San Francisco, and in the ocean climate
generally, the wind is not high on more than three or four days in the
five months from October to February, the calmest months in the year
being November, December and January.
BAIN, STORM, CLOUD AND MIST.
Mining and agriculture, the leading interests of California^ are inti-
mately connected with the distribution of rain. Drought on the one
hand and flood on the other, are the terrors of a large portion of the
people. For these and other reasons, it is proper to dwell at some
length on the subject of rain.
In the entire absence of rain during one portion of the year, and its
restriction to another portion, California has but one climate. There
is this difference, however, between one part and another, that the rain
commences sooner and continues later in the north, and that both the
quantity of rain and the duration of the rainy season diminish on
approaching the southern part of the State, or rather on receding from
the mountainous section.
The rain-year of California does not conform to the calendar year,
but extends from summer to summer, embracing the latter part of one
year and the former part of the year ensuing. The natural division is
in July or August — say the first of August. The calendar year fails to
represent properly either a dry winter or a rainy one. Thus, the smallest
quantity of rain in any one of the seventeen calendar years was 10.50
inches, in 1865, while the climatic year 1850-51 had but 7.12 inches,
and 1863-64, 8.49 inches. On the other hand, the calendar year 1865
had but 10.50 inches, or half the average supply, from which it would
be inferred that one at least of the two seasons in which it enters wan
dry. Whereas, by reference to the table, it appears that both of those
seasons had the full supply, being a fraction over twenty-one inches.
It so transpired that the zain of one season was mainly in the latter part
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340
THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
of 1864 and thai of the latter season in the early part of 1866, leaying
the intervening calendar year deficient.
In seasons of scanty rains, the deficiency is not confined to certain
districts, as in the Atlantic States, bnt it is general. The annual sup-
ply, however, varies greatly in different sections. Taking the guage at
San Francisco as a basis, very nearly the same quantity falls in the
valleys surrounding the bay, and also in the Sacramento valley as far
north as the Capital. Speaking more precisely, the quantity in Sonoma
and Napa counties is rather greater, and in Santa Clara^ south of the
bay, rather less than at San Francisco. Proceeding southward it
diminishes rapidly, the rain fall at Los Angeles and San Diego being
only one half that of the bay. In the north and northeast, among the
Sierras, it is three or four times as much in some localities.
The following table exhibits the rains of each month 9.t San
Francisco, for seventeen years, beginning with the winter of 1850-61,
and the mean for each month of the year :
Year.
Jan.
Feb.
Mtf.
Apl.
May.
June
July
Aug.
Sept
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
1850.
1.25
2.14
5.31
1.43
.40
1.15
2.90
3.01
.48
5.43
.22
3.78
.14
2.50
7.62
3.06
2.64
3.10
2.74
1.16
1851
.65
.58
4.11
4.27
4.52
8.44
2.07
4.36
LOO
L13
L24
18.14
3.29
L31
3.97
1L05
6.64
.35
.12
L16
8.41
4.64
.43
8.66
L32
5.22
L36
2.83
6.11
3.26
.00
.78
L47
6.22
L88
6.40
4.81
3.17
4.31
L64
L56
3.94
2.51
3.06
3.40
L66
2.42
1.39
.60
2.55
1.68
2.76
1.14
.19
5.05
3.31
5.59
3.14
.00
1.14
.33
1.72
.26
1.11
2.92
.93
.73
.12
1.85
1.74
.69
.30
.32
.02
2.14
.88
.04
.11
2.03
2.56
.66
.91
.41
.52
.42
1.85
.04
.82
.02
1.00
.18
.80
.10
2.12
7.07
1852.
11.90
1853.
2.05
1854.
.04
.38
1855
5.45
1856
.08
.50
.93
3.3S
4.00
1857
.14
.10
4.14
1858
.04
....
4.77
1859
1.51
I860
'.ie
.23
.33
.02
.96
4 79
1861
6.10
1862.
1863
.02
'.i7
".i5
.02
.25
■ * .62
.14
2.73
1.73
1864.
6.97
1865
.55
1866
.15
13.15
1867
.06
.09
.56
.57
12.85
.•05
.02
.01
Mean. ....
4.51
3.08
5.37
The greatest quantity of rain for any one month, as the table shows,
was 18.14 inches, in January, 1862 — a winter memorable on account of
destructive floods on the Pacific slope. The greatest quantity in any
/one month in Eastern Pennsylvania, during a period of thirty years,
was thirteen inches; and this was in one of the summer months. So
much as this never falls in a winter month in the Atlantic States. For
one season of excessive drought there have been two of excessive rain.
No two seasons in succession have given as much rain as 1866-67, and
1867-68.
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CLDCATE.
341
The rains of each season are exhibited in the following table^ in
juxtaposition with the rains of each year :
BeMon.
B«lii.
Year.
Bain.
1860-61
7.12
18.00
3a 46
22.80
24.10
21.13
19.95
19.05
19.76
17.10
14.54
38.04
15.19
8.49
21.30
21.19
32.22
20.79
1861
16.12
1851-62
1852
25.60
1852 63
1853
19.03
1853-64
1854
22.12
1854 65
1855
27.80
1855-66
1856
22.01
1856 57
1857
20.65
1857-68
1858
19.64
1858-59
1859
18.03
1859-60
1860
16.15
1860-61
1861
18.43
1861 62
1862
31.06
1862-63 X
1863
16.68
1863 64
1864
18.95
1864-65
1865
10.60
1865 66
1866
32.98
1866-67
1867
33.00
Mpftn
Mean
21.62
It appears that December is the month of greatest rain. The rainy
tendency reaches its climax about Christmas, and then diminishes
gradnallj until the termination of the season of rain, towards the lat-
ter end of May. June, July, August and September are dry, with
exceptions so slight as scarcely to deserve notice, only 2.50 inches hav-
ing fallen in these four months collectively in seventeen years.
In almost every winter there are two rainy periods, with a drier
period interposed, showing an analogy to the earlier and later rains of
Palestine and other oriental countries. The month of February is the
most frequent representative of the dry period. But the spring rains,
which sometimes commence in this month, and other heavy rains which
occasionally fall, swell the aggregate so as to prevent the exhibition of
a deficiency in the table.
In speaking of the ''rainy season," strangers will not infer that
rain is perpetual, or nearly so, during that time. The term is employed
only in contrast with the dry season, and it implies the possibility
rather than the actual occurrence of rain. In more than half the win-
ters there is not a drop beyond the necessities of agriculture, and even
in the seasons of most rain much very pleasant weather is interspersed
If the winter be not extraordinary, it is generally regarded as the most
pleasant season of the year. In the intervals of rain it is bright, sumiy
and calm. It is spring rather than winter. The grass starts as soon as
the soil is wei At Christmas^ nature wears her green uniform almost
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342 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIPOBNIA.
throughout the entire State, and in February and March it is set with
floral jewels. The blossoms increase in variety and profusion until
April, when they are so abundant in many places as to show distinctly
the yellow carpeting on hills five miles distant.
There is great irregulariiy in the time of the commencement of the
rainy season. It never sets in before November, and sometimes not till
the latter part of December. In the northern section the rains com-
mence earlier than at San Francisco,' and in the southern section later.
The spring rains, which are of immense importance to agriculture,
rarely fail. March is one of the surest months in this respect April
often gives a copious supply. There is a remarkable tendency to rain
about the 20th of May, and a complete cessation soon afterwards. It
is a striking feature of the climate^ that when the weather puts on its
rainy habit, the rain is apt to continue every day for one or two weeks^
and then an interval may ensue without a drop for several weeks.
The rains of California are tropical in one respect, being showery,
and not often regularly continuous for many hours. The monotony of
an easterly storm, such as the Atlantic climate furnishes, is almost
unknown here. The sun breaks forth frequently in the midst of a
shower, and directly the sky is almost clear. Presently, when it is least
expected, the rain is heard on the roof with the suddenness of a shower-
bath.
The night is more favorable to rain than the day. No matter how
dense the clouds, how fair the wind, how resolute the barometer in its
promise of falling weather, the sun rarely fails to break up the arrange-
ment before noon, and to tumble ihe clouds into confused masses, or
dissipate them altogether. But before nighty or during the nighty the
clouds resume their function.
The prevailing direction of the cloud-current is from south to west,
and the cloud supplying the rain is mostly of the cumulo-stratus or
nimbus form, and quite low in the sky. What is singular, the rain
begins most frequently to the northward, although the cloud comes
from the south. The horizon in the south may be entirely clear under
these circumstances, the cloud forming in view, and growing denser
and denser in its northward travel, until it precipitates the rain.
The following table exhibits the mean quantiiy of rain falling at
different stations, and the number of years on which the mean is com-
puted. The stations are arranged in the order of their latitude, begin-
ning with Fort Yuma and San Diego, which are about on the same
parallel:
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dJMATE.
343
LocaUties.
Tenn.
Port Yoma
San Diego
Monterey
Stockton
San Francisco
Benicia
Sacramento
Flacerville
Placerviile
Sonth Ynba
South Yuba '. . . .
Bed DojT, Nevada Connty
Fort Jones
Hoopa Valley, Klamath Co. i
Port Orford
Astoria, Oregon
Dalles, Oregon
Fort Steilacoom, Washington Ter.
Fonr years
Three years
Four years ,
Four years ,
Seventeen years
Eight years
Twelve years
1861-62
1862-63
1861-62
1866 67
Three years
Three years
1861 62
Fonr years
One and a half years
Two years
Five years. . ;
3.24
10.43
12.20
15.10
20.79
22.86
18.23
86.00
26.00
109.00
81.56
64.00
16.77
129.16
71.63
86.35
14.32
61.75
A comparison with the Atlantic slope presents a striking contrast
The smallest amount of rain that falls in one year, in any locality on the
eastern side, say twenty inches, is at least eqnal to the average annual
supply in the great grain-growing valleys of Calif omia; whilst, on the
other hand, no locality on the eastern side, until you reach the tropical
latitude of Florida^ approaches the maximum of the Pacific slope.
Thus, California^ with a range of ten degrees of latitude, has a mini*
mum of three and one-quarter inches at Fort Tuma> with a maximum
exceeding one hundred inches on the Sierras; whilst the Atlantic slope,
with upwards of twenty degrees of latitude, and an expanse of territory
vastly greater, with mountainous elevations of considerable height, pre-
sents a minimum of twenty inches with the same maximum as Cali-
fornia.
To make the contrast more striking, it may be added that the annual
supply of rain has a greater range in California^ in a distance of fifty
miles from Sacramento City, than on the Atlantic slope, from Maine to
Florida. Two or three times as much rain may fall in a single night in
the mountains of California^ as in the entire year in the southeastern
comer of the State.
The enormous quantity of one hundred and twenty-nine inches, at
Hoopa valley, is stated on the authority of Dr. Eirkpatrick, of the
United States Army. In general, such extreme results are to be accept-
ed with caution. The guage may not have been fairly exposed — or it
may have been wrongly graduated. But Dr. Kirkpatrick gives, in
detail, the supply for each of three months, which seems to confirm his
report : November, 44.10 inches; December, 23.79 inches; January,
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344 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
30.96 inches. An observer on the South Tuba, Nevada county, reports
41.95 inches as falling there in the month of December, 1867. Instead
of being surprised at the floods in the Sacramento valley, we may won-
der what becomes of so much water.
It is worthy of note, that Hoopa valley is but about forty miles west
of Fort Jones, where the annual supply is set down as 16.77 inches.
Both places are on the northern border of the State, among the coast
mountains, and remote from the ocean.
SNOW AND HAIL-LIGHTNINa AND THUNDEB-AUBORA BOREALIS.
There are no snow storms worthy of the name in the bay region, or
in the great valleys of the State. Hail falls frequently in some seasons,
mingled with rain showers — ^that is to say, it falls three or four times
during the winter, in which case the winter is pronounced a hard one.
Three or four times in eighteen years there has been enough to cover
the ground, so that in favorable spots it would remain an hour or two.
Once or twice in the same period the southern and middle sections of
the State have been covered with snow. On the 29th of December,
1856, it snowed very fast for several hours, and two or three inches col-
lected on the ground at San Francisco. It melted, however, before
night. On the hills surroimding the bay it remained nearly a week.
Early on the morning of the 12th of January, 1868, it snowed very fast
for an hour or two, so that two inches collected. But it disappeared
before sunrise, and was therefore invisible to the citizens generally.
The winter seldom passes without exhibiting the summits of Monte
Diablo and the Coast Eange, as seen from the metropolis, covered
with snow. In the most severe winters it may remain there two or
three weeks at a time, but this seldom happens. When it rains at San
Francisco with the temperature below 50^, it snows generally on those
mountains.
But, in this region of contrasts, while snow is a phenomenon in the
central valleys, it accumulates in enormous quantities in the mountain-
ous counties of the north and easi The stories that are told of its
depth in some localities are almost incredible — ^not on the Alpine
heights, in the region of perpetual snow, for there is perpetual snow
only in a few places in California — ^but in mining regions and mountain
valleys, inhabited by a dense population, and producing a luxuriant
growth of vegetation in the summer. We have been assured that forty
feet accumulated in one locality, in the winter of 1866-7, as measured
on the trunks of trees. When we reflect that one inch of rain is equiva-
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GLDfATE. 345
lent to nine inches of light snow, or six of packed snow, and that forty
inches of rain are recorded as having fallen in a month, we can perceive
where so much snow might come from. It is stated that sixty inches of
water fell during the winter of 1867-8, on the South Yuba, prior to the
1st of January. In the form of snow, counting six inches for one, this
would have measured thirty-six feet
While the absence of frost and snow in the agricultural regions
favors the culture of the soil, and enables it to be carried on without
interruption, except from deficiency or excess of rain, the accumulation
of snow on the mountains is equally favorable to mining purposes,
furnishing a copious supply of water far into the dry season. In May
and June, when the great valleys are beginning to feel the parching
effects of an unclouded sun, the rivers which traverse them bring
down an annual freshet of ice water as the proceeds of the wintiy
deposit
The comparative absence of thunder and lightning may be deemed
a remarkable phenomenon of the climate of California. Three or four
times in the course of the rainy season an occasional flash of lightning
or peal of thunder may accompany the rains. But persons within doors
may pass the whole year, or even several years, without noticing either.
A regular thunder gust, such as marks the Atlantic climate and breaks
the monotony of solar rule, is almost unheard of in California, unless
it be in the extreme north, bordering on Oregon. Two thunder gusts
are on record in San Francisco, both occurring in December, in con-
nection with cold winter rains. Such electrical displays are confined
mainly to the winter; though, on rare occasions, they take place during
the summer months, more particularly in the interior.
There being so little necessity for lightning rods they are unknown
in California, but the lightning does sometimes strike, nevertheless.
In August, 1862, a thunder storm passed over the southern portion of
Alameda county, attacking the telegraph in its route and shivering two
or three of the poles. In December, 1864, the court house at Monterey
was struck by lightning and somewhat damaged. In the mountains
thunder storms occur occasionally, but seldom even there.
It is a common remark that the atmosphere of the Pacific coast is
deficient in electricity, which means simply that the electric equilib-
rium is not easily disturbed. Those little exhibitions of what might
be called domestic electricity, which are common in the Atlantic States,
such as the crackling of clothing and furs, are seldom witnessed here.
They are rare even in winter, though the air be thoroughly dried by a
north wind. It is well known that sudden changes of temperature, and
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346 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
rapid formation of cloud, are favorable to electric disturbances. In
the Bay climate, the few hot days that sometimes steal in with a land
wind during the summer months, are followed bj an immense deluge
of cold, ocean air, which depresses the thermometer from 85^ to 55^
in a few hours, and determines the sudden production of immense vol-
umes of cloud. But all this is performed without visible electrical
disturbance: In the rainy season, clouds are formed above the hori-
zon, in full view, with great rapidity, giving rise to sudden showers.
The quickness with which this occurs is surprising. The aurora
borealis is also rare, having been observed only about six or eight
times in eighteen years. The extraordinary display of August 28th,
and September 1st, 1859, appears to have been as brilliant on the
Pacific as on the Atlantic coast
BELATION OF CLIMATE TO AGRICULTURE AND OTHER PURSUITS.
A stranger observing the long dry season of California for the first
time, would naturally infer that this country is no place for agriculture.
So firmly were the early American settlers impressed with this belief,
that they made little effort at tilling the land, even to the extent of
raising garden vegetables. The pliancy and ingenuity of our people,
however, soon adapted them to the novel circumstances to which they
were subjected. That the hills everywhere produced spontaneously
from year to year a luxuriant crop of oats, and that the valleys^ burnt
up as they were in summer and autumn, were sure to be transformed
into flower gardens in the spring, convinced them that farming could
be made profitable as well as mining. While the masses were delving
in the mountains in pursuit of gold, a few turned their attention to the
growing of potatoes and vegetables, whereby many of them realized
fortunes in a few years.
In the dryest seasons there is rain enough to produce abundant
crops, if it be properly distributed. No one who has not reflected on
the subject would think it possible that six inches of rain during the
season could suffice. One half this quantity is enough to wet the ground
for plowing, and the other half to perfect the crop. The dryest season
since 1848 was that of 1850-51, when a small fraction over seven inches
fell from summer to summer. And, yet, the potatoes of 1861 were not
only the best ever raised in the country, but they were of extraordinary
size. The principal portion of the rain was in March and April; and
this furnished the opportunity to plant under favorable circumstances*
The art of farming in California, as governed by the climate, con-
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CLIMATE. 347
gists in having the soil in good condition and planting the seed while
there is moisture enough to start it. After this, rain is not so essential
in some localities. The old Galifomians, in their rude system, avoided
planting till the rains were over. This was to escape the necessity of
cultivating the crop. They have been known to plow up their potatoes
when rain came after the planting, and to replant; because this was
cheaper than to keep down the weeds which the rain would start into
growth. This is not precisely the American method, and yet it is truly
surprising how perfectly crops of all kinds will mature without a drop
of rain and without irrigation.
In Alameda county a small patch of tough, adobe soil, which had
never been cultivated, was ploughed up for the first time late in May
and planted with beet seed. The soil was not touched afterwards with
an implement of any description. The beets grew rapidly without a drop
of rain, whilst the surface dried too quickly for the weeds to start
The average size of the beets at maturiiy was not much short of ten
pounds, and many of them were twice that size. Being compressed by
the solidified soil before they had attained their full growth, the roots
stretched upwards, and most of them were a foot out of the earth.
There is no compensation for the absence of rain by dews. As a
general rule, the atmosphere is too dry to form much dew. Immedi-
ately on the coast, north of the bay of San Francisco more particularly,
the mists which are poured in daily from the ocean are equivalent to
rain, and preserve the annual vegetation in a fresh condition when the
surface of the earth is parched everywhere else. The finest dairy region
in the world is here. The valleys surrounding the bay are also cele-
brated for their dairies. But the ocean slopes of Marin couniy take the
lead, and neither the sun of summer nor the frosts of winter smite their
green pastures with death.
In the Atlantic States the storms of approaching winter put a stop
to the labor of the farm, and force both. man and beast into winter
quarters. In California it is just the reverse. The husbandman watches
the skies with impatient hope, and as soon as the rain of November or
December has softened the soil, every plough is put in requisition.
Nothing short of excess or deficiency of rain interferes with winter
farming. The planting season continues late, extending from Novem-
ber to April, giving an average of nearly six months for ploughing and
sowing, during which the weather is not likely to interfere with out-
door work more than in the six spring and summer months of the
Eastern States.
Owing to the absence of rain, harvesting is conducted on a plan
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348 THE NATXJBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNU.
which would confase the ideas of an Atlantic farmer. There are no
showers or thnnder gusts to throw down the grain, or wet the hay, or
impede the reaper. The hay dries in the swath without turning. The
grain remains standing in the field awaiting the reaping machine, it
may be, for a month after it is ready to cut. And so it remains when
cut, awaiting the thresher. When threshed and sacked, the sacks are
sometimes piled up in the field a long while before removal. In Sep-
tember and October the great grain-growing valleys may often be seen
dotted over with cords of grain in sacks, as secure from damage by
weather as if closely housed.
Owing to the absence of severe frosts, the gardens around San
Francisco supply fresh vegetables all through the winter. New potatoes
often make their appearance in March. In May the potatoes are full
grown, and the largest weigh a pound or more. Though shipped and
transported hundreds of miles in sacks in the winter season, no one
thinks of their freezing. Frozen potatoes are unheard of, but a dis-
tinction is made in wet weather by traders, between wet and dry pota-
toes, accordingly as they have been exposed or not
A peculiar effect of the climate on fruit trees, is their early and pro-
lific bearing. Apple trees begin to bear when only two or three years
old, and they also continue to grow. It is still more remarkable, that
the opposite climates of the coast and the interior produce the same
results in this respect. One might infer, that the dryness and heat of
summer would hasten the ripening of fruits, and cause the flowering
and fruiting season to be short. But the fact is precisely opposite.
The blossoms, instead of coming forth all at once, continue expanding
for weeks, and the fruit ripens slowly and by instalments. It follows
that the market season for any kind of fruit, instead of lasting a few
weeks^ as in the Atlantic States, may continue for months. Cherries,
for instance, begin to appear about the middle of May, and are on
hand till the middle or last of July. Hence, an extraordinary varieiy
of fruit is in market at the same time. It is probable that no market
in the world is equal to that of San Francisco in this respeci Thus,
strawberries, which become abundant in April, are brought to market
in large quantities for three months, and then disappear, not because
the production has ceased, but because people have grown tired of
them, and other fruits have made their appearance. "When the winter
is mild, ripe strawberries may be gathered every month of the year.
In favorable localities, cherries, peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines,
pearsy apples and figs, together with strawberries, raspberries, goose-
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CLDCATE. 349
berries and currants, may often be gathered at the same time, all ripe
and in perfect condition.
For the drying of fruit the climate is admirably adapted, and the
probability is that immense quantities of dried fruit will be produced
in California for export There can be no failure in the process. All
that is requisite, is to expose the fruit in a suitable place, after proper
preparation, and leave it there. It needs no covering or care at nighi^
as there is not sufficient dew to harm it.
The perfection and value of fruit are greatly enhanced by the entire
absence of those species of the curculio, which sting the fruit in the Atlan-
tic region, and deposits the eggs from which worms are hatched. So
far not a single worm of this description has been seen in any variety of
fruit in California — an exemption which is no doubt due to the climate.
Other contrasts than those described in the foregoing pages result
from the pectdiarities of climate. In traveling through the valleys late
in summer, or in the autumn, one is painfully impressed with the bar-
renness of the landscape. Everything is withered and desolate; the
streams are all dry, and not a patch of verdure is anywhere to be seen.
A few months later, should the December rains prove copious, the
streams are full and the whole country is not only verdant, but many
parts of it are, perhaps, under water; a most luxuriant vegetation,
mixed with millions of wild flowers, everywhere greeting the eye as
the spring advances.
The aridity of the dry season is a blessing in disguise. What
appears to the traveler a barren waste, is a pasture field. The dried
grass is well preserved, after going to seed, and both stalk and seed
afford nutritious food to sheep and cattle. Here, then, is a storehouse
for stock, which will endure until the first heavy rain. For this reason
our agriculturists desire no rain until late in the season, and not then
unless sufficient should fall to wet the soil for ploughing, or to start a
fresh growth. Anything short of this only spoils the dry pasture,
without giving compensation.
Another point is to be considered : that dry and dreary landscape
is nature's seed store, where seeds of a hundred species are preserved
for next year's use. There they repose for months as safe as if packed
in the drawers of a seedsman. In the spring they will germinate by
myriads. How well these seeds are preserved, is shown by the multi-
tudes which germinate in a given space.
And now, what wonder that the hills of California are clothed every
year with a luxuriant growth of wild oats ? And that ''volunteer" crops
of barley and wheat, yielding twenty bushels to the acre, spring up in
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350 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNU.
the yalleys from seed scattered in harvesting ? It is not nnnsoal to
have two good volunteer crops in succession, in as many years. Qsx^
den vegetables seed themselves in the same way.
By a curious arrangement, the seeds which are scattered on the
ground are often secured most effectually. A large portion of the valley
surface is composed of adobe soil; and as soon as the dry weather
comes this soil begins to crack in all directions^ and when the seed
ripens and falls, it is preserved, in these natural receptacles^ from the
depredations of birds, squirrels and other itnimnla.
The preservation of the pasture by drying, and the shortness of
winter and consequent earl^ production of new pasture, have tempted
farmers to make little or no provision for their stock, such as is neces-
sary in the same latitude elsewhere. There is a want in the country of
bams, and of the means of housing and foddering. When there comes
a severe winter, with cold rains and a long suspension of the growth of
pasture, the effects are disastrous. Every such season proves fatal to
vast numbers of cattle, the mere loss of which should be esteemed of
less importance than the torture inflicted on them by cold and starva-
tion. The humane farmer should not trust to the chances of a mild
winter.
HEALTH, DOMESTIC ECONOMY, ETC.
An inhabitant of New England, or Canada^ coming to Califomia,
wears nearly as warm clothing in the month of July in San Francisco
as he wore in January in his old home. Even then he shivers with the
sea breeze, and sometimes dons an overcoat before sunset No one
thinks of casting off his flannel, or wearing a lighter coat on account
of the approach of summer. With the ladies, however, the case is dif-
ferent. The occasional warm mornings of summer allow the exhibi-
tion of summer fashions, without prohibiting cloaks and furs. At
night it is otherwise, the temperature requiring the use of blankete.
Even in the interior, with the thermometer at 100^ at noonday, blan-
kets are almost everywhere required before morning. There is no cli-
mate in the world in which one sleeps so comfortably all the year round;
and it is questionable if there is any other country in the temperate
latitudes where people devote so much time to sleep.
The atmosphere is mostly dry, even during the summer miste;
vapor never condensing on the walls, nor indicating its presence within
doors in any other perceptible manner.
In its relations to the physical development of animals, including
man, the climate of Galifomia appears to be propitious. Laborecs
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CLIMATE. 351
•will toil in the extreme heat> in the interior, and preserve their health
and vigor in a remarkable degree. This is partly due to the dryness of
the air, which promotes the rapid evaporation of sweat, and partly to
the coolness of the nights, which favors rest and recuperation. The
climate is remarkably adverse to epidemic diseases. The malignant
cholera made a visitation in 1850, but was scarcely felt elsewhere than
at Sacramento, where a combination of the most imfavorable circum-
stances gave it destructive power. Passengers have frequently arrived
since that time, after traversing regions where the disease was raging,
without introducing it With the exception just noted, it might be
said that no epidemic has prevailed in Califomia since its settlement
by Americans. Every summer an influenza prevails with greater or
less force, in the bay climate, and in several instances it has extended
along the coast into the neighboring region. Many of the interior val-
leys are subject to malarious fevers, but not generally of a severe iype.
Tlie various forms of disease which prevail elsewhere are found here,
but they present no peculiarities worthy of comment Insaniiy, and
diseases of the heart and blood vessels, are frequent, but this is due
rather to moral and physical causes than to climatic influence.
The relation of the climate to pulmonary affections presents its most
important aspect Many persons threatened with lung disease, or but
slightly affected by it have regained their health completely by immi-
gration. But the benefit is to be ascribed to the sea voyage, and to
circumstances incident to change of residence, more than to the cura-
tive effect of the climate of the Pacific coast To individuals in other
countries suffering with tubercular disease in its established stages,
this country offers no valid prospect of benefit Consumption is
developed m California as it is in most other portions of the temperate
zone* The chilly winds of the ocean climate in summer, whilst they
will, in many cases, brace the system against debiliiy, and enable it to
resist the invasion of disease, depress the vital forces in other cases
beneath the power of resistance. On the other hand, the extreme heat
of the interior leads to the same injurious results by its exhausting
operation. But there is a wide lango of climate between the two
extremes^ more favorable than any other on the Pacific slope to pul-
monary patients, and much more favorable, it may be added, than the
climate of the Atlantic States, either in summer or winter. The same
may be said of the southern section of the State in general. The win-
ter of Califomia everywhere exhibits great uniformiiy in its relation to
pulmonary invalids, and is decidedly superior to the corresponding
season on the Atlantic slope.
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CHAPTER V.
AGBICULTXJRK
AOBicuiiTiTBE. Preliminary Observations. The Cereals : "Wheat, Barley, Oats, Bice, etc
Grasses: Alfalfa, Clover, etc. Cotton— Flax—The Sngar Beet— Melon Sugar— Hojw—
Tobacco— Mustard Seed— The Amole, or Soap Plant— The Tea Plant. Fruits and Nuts:
Apples — Pears — Peaches — Plums— Cherries-Oranges- Lemons— Limes— Bananas-
Olives- Almonds— Chestnuts, etc. Berries : Strawberries— Kaspberries — Blackberries.
Dried Fruits : Baisins— Currants— Prunes— Figs, etc. Pickles, Preserved Fruits and
Vegetables: Orange Marmalade— Quince Jelly — Onions, etc. Potatoes—Large Growths.
Dairy Products : Butter— Cheese. Cattle and Horses— Sheep and Wool— Hogs— Bees
and Honey — Insects. Wood Planting : Transplanting Trees— The Sirocco. Agricul-
tural Implements : Steam Ploughs— The Califomia Land Dresser. Irrigation — Under
Draining — ^Famine Years— Late Bains— The Fanner's Troubles in California — ^Hints
to Emigrants— Contrasts— Advantages — The Chinese in Califomia — ^Farm Labor — ^Har-
mony among Producers. Vinicultubb. Grapes— Wine— Brandy— Wine Merchants, etc.
SiiiK CuLTUBB. Mulberry Trees— Cocoons — ^Diseases of Silk Worms, etc.
Elsewhere in this work will be found general statements pertaining
to the agricultural productions of each county in the State. One of
the purposes of this chapter, is to present to inquirers abroad a clear
comprehension of what a farmer in the Atlantic States, or in Europe,
would desire to know should he contemplate emigrating to California.
In endeavoring to do this, we have aimed to answer every question this
class of inquirers would be likely to ask, not omitting to mention the
disadvantages that exist, so that having the whole subject fairly pre-
sented to him he can act intelligently in the premises.
Except in treating of the dairy business, which requires pectdiar
conditions of climate and situation, we have not directed much atten-
tion to localities — for the area is very large from which to choose; and,
besides, that is done elsewhere in this volume, where also will be found
descriptions of the various soils, and quotations of prices. There is,
however, no standard quotation anywhere except around towns^ and
there it may so change in a year as to mislead. In general terms, land
is very rich and very cheap. Improved farms can always be bought of
persons ready for a change at moderate prices. It may, also, be said
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AGBICULTUBE. 363
that the trials and discomforts of the first year of emigrant life are less
by sixty per cent than in the western Atlantic States^ owing to pecu-
liarities hereafter explained.
The climate of Galifomia is so mild in winter, which is in fact the
season of verdure, that very little feed or shelter is provided. Bams
are almost unknown. Some degree of shelter would, however, prove
beneficial to animals in long protracted rains. By February spring
comes ; ploughing begins in November, if, as is usual, the rain fall
suffices to soften the ground ; sowing following immediately after,
except on lands subject to be flooded — ^but grain can be sown at any
time during the winter months. The best crops are grown when
the rains of March and April are sufficient to carry the growth to
maturity in June or July, which is the harvest time. When these are
deficient^ early seeding fares the best. This system gives more pleasant
and profitable winter occupation than in the Atlantic States. It is,
however, in the time of harvest that the farmer finds his chief advan-
tage ; his crops are gathered without a rain fall to injure them, or to
cause a day to be losi
TBS OERKATA
^ Wheat — ^The varieties of wheat chiefly raised are Chilean and Aus-
tralian. Grain-cutters are in universal use. Threshing is all done by
machinery on the field, and grain is sacked on the spot, where it may lie
safe from injury, needing no shelter, till October. It is allowed to get
fully ripe, and is so entirely cured that it never sweats in the ship's
hold, however long the voyage; nor does this entire ripeness cause
much loss of grain by falling to the ground in handling. It is a pecu-
liarity of all seeds here, that the containing capsules hold them fast
till the first rain relaxes their fibres and allows them to drop. On this
account harvesting need not be hurried. A field of wheat may stand a
month, or even two, after being fully ripe, and lose but little by its late
cutting. This gives the farmer a longer time to dispose of his crop
without immediately incurring the expenses attending carriage and
storage.
A farmer who owns his land can always arrange for money advances,
either to cover his first outlays for a crop, or to hold his grain for a
markety if he be not too remote from shipping points. The great crop
is wheat; nearly half the land under culture in the State being devoted
to it. It is the money-making crop; therefore, we give leading parti-
culars ill regard to it.
Begarding the certainty of a market for wheat at fair paying rates,
we give the aspect of the future, as it appears at this time. California
23
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854 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIPOBNiau
produced in 1867 about fifteen millions bushels of this cereal, of which
nearly eight millions were exported. The average market price during
that year was $2 per one hundred pounds, the ruling rates in the early
part of 1868 having been $2.60 per one hundred pounds. Our exports
of flour during the year 1867 amounted to 520,000 barrels.
In no country can wheat be raised to greater profit even at the high
price of farm labor, say forty dollars a month and board. Eighty cents
a bushel, in favorable seasons and localities, pays the farmer, since one
seeding can be made to produce two crops ; the second being termed
a volunteer crop, and coming from the seed that falls in harvesting the
firsi The yield is somewhat less, but the profit is of course much
larger, as there is no expense for ploughing and seeding. The Cali-
fomia farmer is at no expense for manure ; he bums the straw!
This looks like wasteful and destructive exhaustion of the soiL In
some places it is being seriously felt, and in time it must work uni^
versal impoverishment of the land. But there is a large extent of
land which has been in grain for fifteen years^ and yet produces
twenty to tweniy-five bushels to the acre, as at firsi There are well
authenticated cases of fields situated in the San Joaquin valley, that
have been cultivated to grain for sixteen consecutive years without
diminution of the production, except one year, when the crops were a
total failure, from the absence of the usual rains. Begarding the
qualiiy of California wheat, it may be mentioned that it commands
extra prices in England and France, especially on account of its faculiy
of appropriating much more water in the baking process than other
flour, and thus giving greater weight of bread. Our principal market
for wheat is England; nexi^ New York, and other domestic ports.
Freights to New York and Europe, during the year 1867, ruled at
about $15 per ton. Flour is sent to New York, by steamer via Panama^
for $2 per barrel, considerable being shipped by that route. Ship-
ments to Mexico and Central America are increasing, as well as to
various other parts of the world.
^ Oats — ^This grain, of which comparatively little was at first cultivated
in the State, barley being preferred because of its greater cheapness
for horse feed, has for the past few years been growing in favor, and is
eyery year being more extensively planted. The tot^ product of the
State for 1867 reached about 2,000,000 bushels, the average yield having
been about thirty bushels to the acre. The quantity received in San
Francisco for the year from the interior was 282,000 sacks of one hun-
dred pounds each. Very little was exported, nearly the whole being
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AGRICULTURE, 356
required for home constimptioiL Much of this grain is cut while
green and made into hay.
^ WUd Oats — "When^alif omia became first known to Americans the face
of the country was nearly everywhere covered with wild oats. Though
parched in the long summer, the grain held firmly in its capsule and
supplied tlie most fattening pasture. It still prevails outside of culti-
vation, furnishing a large proportion of the hay in use in many locali-
ties. It difiers from tame oats in being smaller, and in this peculiarity,
that it has bearded projections, with bended joints, like the legs of the
grasshopper. When the first rain comes it limbers out the joints, which
being dried by the sun, after the rain, shrink, causing the berry to
hop about, giving it a wide distribution over the land. The wild oat,
though differing materially, is probably a climatic deterioration of the
tame oats brought here by the Spanish missionaries some seventy
years ago.
^Barley — This grain being an almost certain crop, has heretofore been
largely grown in California, the crop for 1867 being estimated at ten
million bushels. It is here made to subserve nearly the same uses as
oats and Indian com in the Atlantic States, being the principal grain
fed to cattle, horses and swine. Like wheat and oats, much is grown
from volunteer crops, the yield being not only surer, but generally larger
than that of those grains — averaging about thirty-two bushels to the
acre. But comparatively little has heretofore been exported, though
it is believed, from the superiority and cheapness of the barley grown
here, in connection with the advantages that exist for manufacturing malt
liquors, that this branch of business will, in a short time, be greatly
expanded. Experiments recently made demonstrate that ale and porter
can be made in San Francisco of a quality every way equal to the Eng-
lish article, while the coolness of the climate admits of brewing being
carried on throughout the entire year.
^Bice — ^There is a large consumption vi rice here, by the fifty thou-
sand Chinamen scattered throughout the State, the average annual
consumption having exceeded twenty-three million pounds for several
years past. Our large area of swamp and overflowed lands is well
suited to rice, and the climate is equally so, but these lands cannot
be used till guards are erected to regulate the water flow. No rice has •
yet been cultivated in California. There are many varieties of rice, and
it is not always a water-plani Many kinds are called hill rice, which
produce a fine grain. With irrigation, it might be more profitable than
wheat But with irrigating canals all varieties could be cultivated, and
tills should be an inducement of some weight to urge their construction.
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356 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
RyCy Buckwheat and Indian Com are little cultivated. The latter can
be grown to profit only in favored localities, on account of cool nights^
late maturing, and an almost entire absence of summer rains.
^ OBA8SB8.
There is little or no sod in California. In the Atlantic States and
in Europe grass is killed by winter frosts, but the roots survive and
make sod, which spring rains revive ; but the long summer drought of
this climate, with scarcely any rain from April to November, takes the
life from the roots, and for hay or pasture it is necessary to renew sow-
ing every year. The hay of California is mostly made from oats and
barley, cut before ripening, and as it is cured without rain, it has a
bright, light-green color — ^when not too excessively sun dried. It is
very nutritious — oat hay being preferred to barley. In isolated local-*
ities there are moist valley spots amid the rolling hills where there is
some summer verdure.
* Btmchrgraas is a peculiar herbage .on many dry hill sides, and*
affords a perpetual pasture. It occurs always in detached bunches,
sufficient in size to make a small mouthful, and seems to be procrf
against drought — ^but is not cultivated. Wherever the sage-Inrush is
found, (popular emblem of complete barrenness,) cattle keep fat on
this curious grass — ^which flourishes under the shelter of the brush.
It is the first verdure that makes its appearance and gives pasture in
the early spring.
Alfalfa is a species of clover which gives perennial pasture and makes
excellent hay, when cultivated. Its roots go down to moisture at depths
incredible, and they seem to travel till they reach it; but once fairly
rooted, it is difficult to eradicate this grass; and as it attracts gophers,
to the great annoyance of the farmer, it is not generally in great favor
— ^but its cultivation is extending.
^ Burr clover differs from other varieties in having a peculiar seed,
full of rich oil, enclosed in a prickly capsule. Cattle do not fancy it
much until it is dead ripe and scattered over the ground, but during
the entire summer, and when to our eyes invisible, it supplies a nour-
ishing food to the lapping tongue of cattle.
MfleriJIla has the appearance of the wild geranium but has not been
cultivated. Wherever it grows it is the favorite pasture with cattle. It
stands second to none of the grasses in its endurance of drought, and
flourishes on hill sides, where alfalfa grass &dls for want of moisture.
To the eye, alfilerilla is a flattened tuft, hugging the ground. It appears
to give scarcely a fair hold to the bite of cattle, but, if lifted up, it shows
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AOBICULTUBE. 857
a great monthfoL In cultiyated ground, wherever it has an opportu-
nity to gain an undisturbed growth, it gives proof that it would yield a
heavy crop, of good height and of unsurpassed richness^ for hay as well
as pasture. Probably it would prove more valuable to cut and feed
in the green state. It is deserving of more attention than it receives.
-^ The Lupin, which is cultivated as a grass in France, grows wild
among the sand hills of the Coast Bange of California, and could be
made profitable where little else will grow, by planting select varieties.
There is a coarse joint-grass which runs like a vine over the sands bor-
dering the sea, and which spreads with wonderful swiftness — every joint
Bending > down roots. For sheep and goats it would furnish a never-
dying supply of pasturage.
Timothy, Orchard, Herd and Bed- Tap, as well as other favorite grasses
*of the Atlantic States, are Hipited to a few places in this country,
because they would furnish but one. crop, and then die in the drought
of summer. But» in time, these grasses will be cultivated in moist
mountain dells and onin^proveiA swamp lands; in certain localities they
are now doing welL
Natural meadows of great extent are found interspersed among the
watery tule lands. They are very wet in winter, and their grass, though
a sure crop and heavy, is wiry, coarse, and of inferior nourishmeiit ;
yet, at times, it is of priceless value. The year 1864 was one of famine
to cattle in this State ; the rains were scant, and the usual feeding
grounds were barren. Some enterprising men cut fifty thousand tons
of this coarse grass in that year, and it proved the salvation of a large
number of cattle, and a source of great profit to the adventurers.
Among the recuperative resources of the State, this may be counted
on hereafter as of great value.
COTTOir.
Cotton encounters the same difficulty as com, without irrigation;
wherefore, it seems hardly deserving a place in the list of our agricul-
tural staples. The time will come when irrigation, as a grand system,
will be called for and adopted, rendering the more extensive culture of
these articles probable.
' FIiAZ.
The establishment of a mill in San Francisco, and also one in Sut-
ter county, for the manufacture of linseed and other vegetable oils,
has had the effect to encourage within the past year a more extensive
culture of flax and the castor oil bean than before. Thus far the San
Francisco mill, the other having been more recently built^ has been
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358 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
obliged to rely chiefly upon foreign importations for its supplies of
linseed ; but a desire having been expressed to take seed of home
growth to the amount of five hundred tons annually, our farmers are
likely to engage in the culture of the plant more largely hereafter.
Flax being native to California, growing wild in some portions of the
State, can undoubtedly be successfully and profitably raised on a large
scale. Indeed, the trials already made show that there is no trouble
in making good crops — over fifteen himdred pounds of seed having
been produced to the acre, the stalk of the plant being large and vigor-
ous, and coated with a strong and abundant fibre. The total product
of the State for 1867 was one hundred and fifty tons ; though it is
believed a home market could be had for four times that amoimt at
remunerative prices, the ruling rates heretofore having been four and
a half cents per pound. Hitherto no fabric has been made here from
this textile ; but with such an extensive yearly demand for sacking, it
seems highly probable that this plant will soon be made to contribute
largely towards supplying this important and growing want of the State,
this material having heretofore been wholly imported.
r 8UOAB BEET.
* Although the sugar cane cannot be grown in California, more
sugar may be made from the beet than in any other country. This
vegetable grows to an enormous size here and is of easy cultivation.
Experiments prove that it is much richer in sugar than the beet of
France, ten per cent, against six per ceni It is well known that
when the sugar beet is taken from the groimd and stored for winter
use, it undergoes a chemical change, to the loss of a notable per cent-
age of its sugar. In California^ beets remain in the soil unharmed by
frost, and keep on growing through the winter, so that they need not
be taken up till wanted for milling. This would prove a great saving
of the saccharine matter, avoiding also the cost of storage and hand-
ling. A company has been formed in France and Germany, through
Mr. George Gordon, of San Francisco, for the manufacture of beet
sugar in this State. This company proposes to buy the beets and not
to raise them. They oflfer to erect works in any locality, and to any
number and extent required, wherever fifteen hundred acres may be
devoted to beet culture. It is likely that many will avail ihemselves
of this offer, and by engaging largely in the growing of this root, sup-
ply, at least in part, the consumption of sugar in California by an arti-
cle of home production.
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AGRICULTUBE. 859
Ajcxloh suoab.
There is at the eastern base of the Alps much land subject to being
destroyed by deep washings of sand, on which nothing will grow except
melons, only two being allowed to mature on a single vine. As the
melons are gathered, they are slashed open with a big knife, and a
wooden scoop empties the pulp into a vessel where the juice is ex-
pressed. '!^ia. is boiled rudely, and crystalized like maple sugar in
tlie Atlantic States. The sugar sells at remunerative prices, is light
colored and sweet. Bed pulp melons give a darker sugar, white pulp
is therefore preferred. We have in this State a great area of land
similarly destroyed every year. This sugar-melon example is com-
mended to poor men, who can get the free use of the space, and pro-
ceed on small capital .
Hopa
This climate is peculiarly suited to hops. The vine grows and bears
well wherever it has been planted. It does best on low poles or stakes
and running on cords between, by which its roots get shelter from our
long summer sun. The yield, while the vines are yet so young, is
over eleven hundred pounds per acre ; fifteen hundred pounds may be
the yield per acre in 1868. The consumption is not yet sufficient for
extended cultivation, but for reasons stated in speaking of barley,
this will likely soon become one of our agricultural staples. In three
years the hop vine gains maturity and weight of product equal to five or
six years elsewhere. It yields an extraordinary proportion of the resin-
ous lupuline that gives it value to the brewer, and its flavor cannot be
excelled. The hop vine, once rooted, is profitable in other countries
for seven years before it begins to fail, so that it needs small labor
beyond annual trailing, cutting down, and gathering. In no other
country are hops so easily harvested and cured as in California. In
England they are almost always injured by mildew in the growtii, and
by rain fall in picking time. There the fruit never fully ripens for
want of sunshine. It is greatly injured and discolored by the severe
kiln-drying necessary to its preservation in packages. Here, untar-
nished by rain, or fog, or heavy dews, hops come to as full ripeness as
it is convenient to permit with reference to the tenacity of the pollen
or lupuline; so that the further curing requires very little artificial
heat, and a very short exposure to it. They come from what can
scarcely be called a kiln, holding that fresh green color that proves so
desirable and makes them the admiration of the brewer. The crop of
this State for 1867 amounted to about 425,000 pounds. At the French
Exposition of 1867, a single bale of hops represented California in
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360 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNU.
this article. It attracted the notice of the brewers and hop growers of
England and Germany to snch a degree that each in taking a sample
soon reduced the bale to a mere remnani Hops lose one half of their
value if carried over the year of their growth, from the volatility of
their aroma. They suffer therefore from long sea voyages^ even if
encased in air-tight packages. This is a tariff of protection to our
growers. The home article commands about fifty cents per pound at
our breweries. >.
^TOBACCO.
Encouraged by war prices, in 1861 and 1862, the culture of tobacco
was tried in Napa and Russian river valleys, and at other places. Bich
low land was selected which made the leaf rank — a quality corrected in
some instances where planted on higher land. Itjiras planted early,
and cropped in September — ^no irrigation being found necessary. No
one was skilled in curing it, but a fair Virginia-plug, chewing tobacco,
was made of the leaf. The prejudice encoimtered by a new California
brand rendered much of it unsalable. When a Yirginia brand was
substituted, however, the same tobacco gained favor to such an extent
as to warrant the belief that it might be made a success. It did not
answer for cigars, but some raised on higher land, from Connecticut
seed, was found to serve well for wrappers. The price of tobacco sub-
sequently fell, under over importations, and farmers could not continue
its culture at current cost of labor. A good article can, no doubt^
be grown, if the seed and the soil are properly selected, and skill and
care are observed in curing the leaf. It would pay if it were to com-
mand ten to twelve cents a pound, and the consumption is large enough
to make it an important production.
CHICOOBT.
Ml/hiccory grows so luxuriantly, and with so little cost, that a second
factory for the conversion of the root into coffee is now established in
San Francisco, intended for a laige export^ as well as for supplying the
entire home consumption. This mixing ingredient can scarcely be
called an adulteration — ^for the taste of Europe and America demands
it as an improvement It modifies the bitter taste of coffee, and serves
as a correcting aperient against the stringency that belongs to coffee.
Fifty tons of chiccory were produced last year on fifteen acres in Yolo
county.
"^IfUSTABD fiXKD.
The great pest of our wheat fields in the rich valleys, from Alameda
to the Santa Cruz and Pajaro basins, is wild mustard. It stubbornly
resists extinction, and so grows and overtops the grain with its yellow
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AGBICULTUBE. 861
flowers that a stranger might mistake it for the crop intended to be
raised. A small quantity has always been gathered here for table
use, it being of excellent quality ; but latterly it is found to make an
oil adapted to all the uses to which olive oil is applied. It is gathered
by Chinamen, who thresh and bring the seed to the oil mill in San
Francisco, where they dispose of it at two to three cents per pound.
Many who have made trial of it prefer this oil to that made from lard
or the olive for cooking purposes; it also holding out against rancidity
longer than the latter.
THB AMOLB, OB BOAP PIiANT.
The amole or soap plant, a white, bulbous root, having the size and
shape of an oblong onion, grows sparsely on the prairies and foot-hills of
Galifomia. When bruised and rubbed in water it makes a rich lather,
and being possessed of highly detergent properties, was much employed
by the early inhabitants of California as a substitute for soap, being
in fact almost exclusively used by them in washing clothes. The stalk
of the amole, which grows to a height of four or five feet, has numer*
ous slender branches, thickly budded, the whole bearing a strong resem-
blance to the asparagus plani The bulb has a fibrous envelope, end-
ing in a hair-like tuft above ground, the outer coating, as it decays,
becoming dark-colored and husky. These roots, being gathered by
Chinamen, are taken to the factories, where the pulpy matter having
been separated from the fibres, the latter are dried and twisted by
machinery, receiving a crimp which they afterwards retain. When
prepared, this material is the best substitute for curled hair mat-
rasses and upholstering purposes. Within the past few years quite
an extensive business has grown up here in collecting and manufac-
turing this fiber ; and, as the raw material is abundant, and costs noth-
ing but the gathering — the farmers being glad to be rid of this plant,
sometimes troublesome in plowing — ^there is a certainty of its meeting
with a steady expansion hereafter.
THE TEA PIiAMT.
A few years since some plants were imported from China^ but the
cultivation of tea for beverage has never been undertaken in this country.
Its true home would be among the higher foot-hills — as it becomes rank
when grown in low lands. A wet soil is not desirable, a finer quality
of leaf often being produced from thin soils, and where sixty days of
snow give it winter rest. This is one of the hardiest of plants, and fire
only kills the top, to give a new and richer growth from the roots. In
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362 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNLL
Japan and China the shrub grows three feet high, and bears two crops
of leaves during the year.
FBUITS AKD NUTS.
It is not necessary to enumerate all the fruit trees — every variety
has been grown in Califomia. The Pomological Society gives a list
of 1,186 as having been examined, of which 561 varieties are approved
as doing well here, viz : apples, 178 ; pears, 122 ; peaches, 55 ; cher-
ries, 43 ; plums, 33 ; apricots, 11 ; grapes, 18 native and 22 foreign ;
strawberries, 25 ; currants, 18 ; gooseberries, 13 ; raspberries, 12.
There are 625 varieties to which the Society does not give approbation,
and we confine our list to the leading varieties of fruit sold in the mar-
kets of San Francisco.
Apples — ^Early : Red June, red Astracan and early harvest. Autumn :
Fall pippin. Cooper's market, Porter, Khode Island greening, and Jon-
athan. Winter : Esopus, white and blue pearmain, bellflower, black
Detroit, Baldwin, Spitzenberg, red-cheek pippin, Schwaar, green and
yellow Newtown pippin, Virginia greening, black heart, winesap, and
Boxbury russet.
Pears — ^Early : Doyenne d'et^, Madelaine, Dearborn seedling, Blood-
good, and Bartlett. Autumn : Buerre Diel, Fondante d'automne or
Belle lucratif, Seckel, Beurre clairgeau. Winter : Glout morceau,
Easter Beurre, and Winter Neliis. Our best winter pears, such as
Easter Beurre, find sale in Japan at good prices, and further regular
consignments are ordered.
Peaches — ^Early Tiletson, Early York, Strawberry, Early Crawford,
Morris' white, and late Crawford. The peach tree is a fine bearer
here, but the curled leaf is spreading, and it may be found necessaiy
to apply some remedy to check the disease, if the crop is to continue
to be profitable. Our fruit trees were brought originally from the
nurseries of the Atlantic States, with the seed of diseases peculiar to
those localities. The same system of exhaustion has been pursued in
eflforts to continue certain limited varieties by grafting on stocks not
of their kind. Nature demands continual change for healthy produc-
tion, and in this climate of exhaustive growth it will be found neces-
sary to resort to raising native varieties from the seed, in order to get
plants that will allow fair play to Nature, in adapting them to the
peculiarities of our soils and climate. It is a general rule that imported
trees yield fruits here with flavor less pronounced than in their native
homes. Following Eastern experience and forgetting the great diflfer-
ence of climate, our horticulturists have bared the stems of fruit trees
to an unaccustomed sun, by trimming away the lower branches. As a
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AGBICULTUBE, 363
consequence, the bark becomes cracked on the snnny side and insects
enter. It is above all things desirable that orchardists and nursery-
men turn .their attention to this error, in growing and transplanting
for new orchards ; for existing orchards seem destined to suffer
materially from this evil.
Plains — Drap d*Et^, green and purple G^e, Columbia, Bradshaw,
red and yellow Magnum Bonum, Washington, Jefferson, and Prune
d'Agen. As the Washington plum, dried whole, proves acceptable to
the Japanese taste, a market may hereafter be found for this fruit
among that people.
CJiejriea — ^Early: Kentish, and Baiight's early red. Late: Banman's
May, Black Eagle, black Tartarian, Holland, and Napoleon Bigereau.
Quinces — ^Apple, or orange quince, preferred. Without exception,
all fruit in California is larger than elsewhere, and all fruit trees attain
in two years the size and maturity of five years in other countries.
The borer has appeared in some hot valleys, but it is generally unknown.
No other disease is known except the curl leaf in peach trees. This is
generally prevalent in all our valleys, and some nurseries have worms
that knot the roots of the young trees.
An impression prevails that all apples in California tend to meali-
ne33, that they are defioient in flavor, and do not keep well. And it is
said that the absence of native apple trees indicates that this fruit is
not suited to the climate. These are errors. In our valleys, it is true,
apples are not so good. But throughout all the foot-hills they are,
in flavor, in keeping, and in every other respect fully up to the choicest
standard abroad. Wild apple trees are native here. Pears and
plums are our best fruits for flavor and weight of crop. Cherries do
well, but birds trouble them. Apricots bear well, but they incline to
be mealy, and insects prey upon them. The nectarine grows well, and
is deliciously flavored.
Oranges and Lemons are proving a very profitable crop in Los
Angeles county and further south, and their culture is being greatly
extended. The trees require age to become profitable bearers, and in
seven years attain only ten feet in height and five inches in thickness.
They then only begin to bear, and not before the ninth year are they
a source of profit When in full bearing, one tree produces from one
thousand to two thousand oranges yearly. The orange requires nearly
ten months to ripen from the blossom, and the tree has insect parasites
that are very destructive. Oranges come to us from Tahiti, Mexico, Cape
Si Lucas, the Sandwich Islands, and latterly from China. But they
are plucked green, of course, and have a poor flavor. Our own oranges.
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364 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBHJA.
requiring bat three days to be sent to market, may be plucked fully
ripe ; and if the quality of the fruit is good, they will take preference
and make money very fast for the grower.
Bananas — ^Plants from the Sandwich Islands haying proved that
they will do well in our southern counties, some imported from Pan-
ama are being planted, and this greatest of all bearers may be counted
upon as likely to soon take a place among our more rare and luscious
fruii
lAmeSy CUronSy Pomegranaieay and Quinces grow well here, and no
finer fruit than the latter is anywhere to be found — ^being entirely free
from imperfection.
Olives. — ^The number of olive trees planted at the old Spanish mis-
sions, and their vigorous growth and bearing for over sixty years,
prove their adaptation to our climate. like the orange, the olive tree
takes a long time to get into a profitable bearing condition, and not
before the ninth year does it produce welL On this account its
propagation has not been popular till quite lately. Now, numerous
farmers are planting the tree in many portions of the State. It lives
for hundreds of yearS in full bearing. It is a species of willow, and
easy to propagate from cuttings. In the experience of over sixty years,
there has never been a failure of the olive crop here ; whereas^ in
Europe it often fails, and the fruit suffers injury from elemental causes.
From the imiform excellence of our olives, we may depend upon their
preference abroad ; and for the same reason it is probable that the oil
will be alike superior. The oil of olives is almost universally used in
cookery in many parts of Europe, and it would certainly be adopted
here also, if it could be had fresh from the manufactory. It is more
wholesome than lard, cheaper than butter, and would probably bear
export to India^ where lard is not used, on account of peculiar views.
Mmonds are produced in considerable quantities and of excellent
quality, and large numbers of trees are being planted. The varieties
are, paper shell, soft shell, Laoguedoc, and Marseilles. The almond
is, in fact, a species of peach tree, in which the pulp of the fruit is not
eatable, only the kernel being valued. If the tree continues to escape
the curled leaf that attacks the other peach trees, it will prove most
valuable.
Madeira nvis (white walnuts) have been growing here many years,
and they are now produced profitably in several counties.
Hickory nuts are unknown in California. This tree, like the hem-
lock tree in Europe, refuses to grow except in a stunted and unhealthy
way.
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AGRICULTURE. 865
Chesinuta are under trial in a few placeSi and the Butternut is also
being cultivated.
We have sent to Japan a large assortment of every kind of fruit
tree, vine, and berry. An agricultural socieiy there promises us in
exchange the best varieties in Japan. We may expect to find many
that will prove acceptable additions to our horticulture, especially in
their adaptation to our climate.
We have spoken of the great freedom from disease which our fruit
trees enjoy. But it should be stated that they are liable to be injured
and destroyed by gophers, who love roots, and when the tap root is
cut by them the tree languishes and soon dies. The Osage orange
would make a cheap and enduring fence, but for the peculiar fancy the
gopher takes to ii The presence of this rodent is well indicated by
the fresh mounds he makes, but by vigilance, traps, and poison, he
can be overcome. In very wet winters he goes to the hills for safeiy,
and neglected hill-side orchards are often almost entirely destroyed.
The apple tree louse covers the bark in a large orchard in Santa Clara.
It is very injurious, and may spread to other localities.
Berries are an unusually productive crop in California, on account
of the long period of their bearing. There is not a month in the year
in which strawberries are not to be had in San Francisco. They are
plentiful during five months, beginning with April, and the British
Queen and Longworth's Prolific are most in market. They are chiefly
supplied from Alameda county, and the picking is done by Chinamen,
at half the cost of American laboi>— one thousand pounds to the acre
being the usual expectation. More than four hundred acres are de-
voted to strawberries in that county. The Jucunda is a new variety,
larger and of finer flavor than the Longworth.
Baspberries last four months — ^beginning in June ; the Falstaff is
preferred. They are also chiefly cultivated in Alameda county, and
China labor is used. About one thousand five hundred pounds to the
acre are usually grown.
Blackberries last as long as raspberries — ^the Lawton being preferred.
Currants are in market three months, beginning May 15th — ^the
cherry variety being preferred.
Of native berries, growing wild and plentiful, we have currants,
gooseberries and thimble berries, (a kind of raspberry,) that are made
useful.
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366 THE NATCBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBNLL
DBIKD FBUITSk
One half the froits of California cannot be marketed, so enormons
is the crop, and so expensive the picking and cost of carriage. The
most extensive orchard in the State is that of Briggs & Co., at Marys-
ville, comprising one hundred imd sixty acres, in a deep, moist, rich,
and friable soiL The proprietors, finding the prices of fruit no longer
profitable, have gone extensively into drying almost every variety.
They cured over fifty tons in 1867, which in appearance and other
respects, cannot be excelled. Owing to the power of snnshine luid
its unbroken continuity in the season, kiln drying is dispensed with,
and the color of the cured fruit is therefore lighter and more attractive.
This industry will be greatly extended.
Bamns — ^Led on by Mr. B. N. Bugbey, of the foot-hills, near Fol-
som, the raisin seems to promise us a new production. This gentleman
uses the Malaga Muscatella grape, and has succeeded in making sev-
eral thousand boxes of good cured raisins. Mr. Blowers, of Yolo, has
made good raisins, and Mr. Brown, of Santa Clara, also. A good
article has also been made in other portions of the State.
Currants, from the black or Zante variety, have been made in San
Jos^, and the experiments of two seasons prove that an article can be
produced equal to the imported.
Figs are cured here, but have not been thus far of good quality.
Owing to the inferior character of the stock, they are small and dark
colored, but finer varieties are now being grown extensively, from
which cured figs of the best quality will probably soon be made.
PICKUSS, PRESEBVED FBUITS, VEOETABJJES, ETC.
For these articles this State has, until within a few years past, been
entirely dependent on importations from the Eastern States and Eng-
land, and has annually consumed about a million dollars worth. Cali-
fornia is now, however, on a self supplying basis in this respect^ and
our local manufacturers are amply able to meet, not alone the demands
of this State, but also those of Nevada^ British Columbia^ and Mexico,
together with an increasing market in China and Japan. California
offers a peculiarly favorable field for this business on account of pro-
ducing so large a variety of fruits, and the soundness and maturity
attained by all vegetables. The producer and consumer have both
been benefited, in preserving from waste the surplus of one, and giving
to the other a fine supply and variety of fruit, more fresh and whole-
some than imported articles. In this line Messrs. Cutting & Co., of
San Francisco, are the largest manufacturers in the State — ^their
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AOMCULTURR 867
house giving employment, during the packing season, to one hundred
and sixty hands, in preparing for market every variety of preserved
fruits and vegetables, meats, sauces, catsup, etc. The total annual
production of these articles amounts to $650,000.
Orange Marmalade, — ^This confection has a consumption so very
extensive in Great Britain as to form a commerce worth contending for.
It is made in Scotland, and is known in the market as Scotch marma-
lade. The oranges are plucked in Sicily and elsewhere on Mediterra-
nean shores, so very green, to stand the long voyage, that the marma-
lade is really a poor representative of the orange flavor. California
could produce a superior confection from oranges ripe and carrying
all the flavor of this sunny climate.
Quince Jelly is little known in England, but would be of easy intro-
duction and in large demand there. It is the leading table confection
in France and all over Europe, and it finds a ready markei This is one
of those peculiar flavors which would probably suit the taste of Japan
and China. The quince grows well everywhere in California, and as
it is fit only for confection, but superior for that purpose, it may
interest producers to suggest export markets for ii
The dried fruits of this climate would find' a preference in every
market of the world, because the drying process can be finished with-
out interruption of rain, in the open air, and therefore without dis-
coloration. They are being now largely prepared, and their appear-
ance is very fine. The canning of fruits is also assuming large pro-
portions, and will soon became an important industry.
Burned Onions. — ^Tlie French make a great improvement in the
onion by torrefying it and flattening it so as to resemble in shape, and
to pack like the fig. Burned onions are now in general use all over
Europe, and no gravy or soup is complete without the peculiar fiavor
and coloring they impart. The peculiar pungency which the natural
onion has, leaving a long sustained unpleasantness on the taste, is
entirely removed, and certain new combinations are effected by the
chemistry of the oven, which commend it in this shape to every taste,
while the natural flavor is well preserved, in a subdued condition.
They are put up in packages of the same form as fig boxes, and are a
source of considerable traffic. It is for home use, for ship stores, and
for the markets of the Pacific, that we recommend this mode of pre-
paring the onion, which grows so luxuriantly here. The French mode
of preparation can only be judged by its appearance. It is black and
quite flat, and seems to have been placed in well-heated ovens, proba-
bly under pressure, and that the time required for this purpose is shori
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368 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBNLL
POTATOE&
Potatoes are easily grown in most parts of the State, and generally
ol large size and good flavor. As yet they know no disease. They
are often left in the ground all winter, being dug only as required for
use or market The crop of 1867 is estimated at two million bushels,
the prevailing price in San Francisco being about ei^ty cents per
busheL
IiABOE OBOWTHS.
Big vegetables and extra great yieldings we do not consider of suf-
ficient importance to chronicle. But we may say that as a general
rule all growths are larger in California than elsewhere ; from big
trees, thirty feet in diameter, to pumpkins and squashes of over two
hundred pounds in weight Beets frequently weigh over one hundred
pounds, and potatoes and cabbages are also enormous. Our grains
are all of greater weight than elsewhere as an average. Size is not,
however, a good indication of quality, although at agricultural fairs it
is generally so treated ; but it is more important to know that vege-
tables in California are remarkably tender and succulent, and that
great numbers of them grow in the open air all the year — such as cab-
bages, celery, and cauliflowers, always with fine heads — ^and also beets,
turnips, carrots, parsnips, and onions. Many others, like potatoes,
grow for ten months. Fruits also grow larger than in the Eastern
States ; so do fruit trees. As a general rule the tree in and from the
nursery grows twice as fast and bears in half the time. This applies
to every species. The weight of crop is larger and quite free from
defects. But, if we except pears and plums, the flavor is less pro-
nounced ; so with strawberries and raspberries. Experience is insuf-
ficient in this yoimg country to determine whether or not this rapidity
of growth and excessive production leads to early decay. If the forest
trees of the mountains may be a guide, the probability is that our
fruit trees will endure as long as elsewhere.
DAISY PBODUCTS,
From Mendocino county to San Diego, a considerable portion of
the Coast Bange is well adapted for the dairy business. It has not its
equal in some respects, the land being cheap, and the expense of keep-
ing stock trifling. The Coast Bange is a mountain chain running par-
allel with the ocean, and being bathed by its frequent fogs in summer,
supplies moisture when all elsewhere is dry. The lowland strip,
towards the ocean, is narrow ; but on the eastern, or land side, there
are valleys of great extent and fertility. This range of mountains is
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full of springs and evergreen nooks, often of considerable area, on its
seaward side. The natural grasses that cover this whole range are
very nutritious, consisting of alfilerilla^ burr clover, bunch grass, and
wild oats.
There are twelve hundred dairies in California, having fifty to one
hundred and fifty cows each. The cows are a cross of imported with
Mexican stock. They pick their own feed the year round, and receive
no shelter or other care whatever. The dairy season comprises nearly
the whole year — grass butter being always plenty in San Francisco.
BtUier. — ^The following wholesale prices were the ruling rates for
butter in 1867 : January and February, 50c. per Bb; March, April and
May, 30 @ 35c. per lb ; June, July and August, 40 @ 45c. per ft ;
September, October, November and December, 50. @ 70c. per ft.
The season for putting up butter to keep is April, May and June.
It is placed in small oak casks, convenient for packing on mules to go
into mining districts, etc. But, for city use, the butter is made into
rolls, covered with a cotton cloth, and laid down in brine. California
butter is so firm and so free from oleaginous ingredients, that it keeps
in this way a year or more, and turns out, still, fresh grass butter ; the
salt does not penetrate enough to change ii When equally well made,
it keeps much better than the eastern article, and requires a higher tem-
perature to melt it. It has a peculiarly sweet aroma, by which it is
readily distinguished from butter imported from abroad.
The production of butter in California for 1867 amounted to six mil-
lion pounds — and half that amount of cheese was made. The imports
of butter from the Atlantic States in 1867 were only half those of 1866;
and such are the advantages enjoyed in carrying on this business that
we may soon become large exporters. We are even now exporting to
Panama, and to the West Indies, to China and Japan. The butter is
packed in tin cases with salt.
Cheese. — The same advantages that apply to butter making are
equally applicable to cheese — ^both paying a profit far beyond other
countries, as is evident when the small cost of producing and the price
in market are considered ; and each has alternate advantage, as the
market varies, rio that it is found best to combine the two.
In the dry air of this summer climate, cheese cures in a very brief
time. In two weeks from press it is marketable ; at one year it is very
compact, ripe and rich. Cheese two years old is not known here;
January, 1868, finds scarce a cheese in market — so active is the trade.
The preferred size is fourteen by four and a half inches — this being
the most convenient size for packing on mules. There is a large con-
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370 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
sumption at the mines, and in the cattle ranches beyond the dairy ranges.
Wormy cheese is a rarity. So rapid and complete is the cming that
mites have little chance to generate, and no moist spells intervene in
the long summer to soften the material, and give them life and moye-
ment.
Eennet is imported from Germany, where they have a method of
preparation unknown to us. Our rennet imparts a flavor which pro-
hibits its use.
CATIIJES AND HOB8ES.
The wild cattle of the Mexicans are poor, long-homed and lank —
but they cross well with imported stock, carrying the fine points of the
latter and the endurance of the former. Great attention has been paid
to crossing, and very soon the pure native stock will be extinct, for it is
unprofitable. Their flesh is tough, and their milk scani The present
number of cattle in California is about six hundred thousand — the
horses amounting to two hundred thousand.
Much greater scope of land is required here to graze the same num-
ber of cattle than in countries visited by summer rains — the grass, when
once cropped, not readily springing up again the same season.
The native Mexican mustang has many excellent qualities, among
which is great endurance. He is capital under the saddle, and very
quick in his movements. No horse excells him in keeping up a steady
liveliness. He will subsist on scanty food and bear you sixty miles a
day, upon occasion ; his gait being always a gallop. He is of light
weight, and not well suited for drafi American and half-breeds are
fast supplanting the native stock. The imported horse improves by
the change of climate, and racers become longer winded. Mares foal
before they are three years old, in California^ and cows bear young
before they are two years old.
Mules are not numerous — being chiefly used for freighting goods
into the mines and over the mountains. They are also employed for
packing into districts where wagon roads are impracticable.
In no country are cattle raised at so trifling cost They get no
shelter and no feed except the wild pasture of the mountain ranges.
As the Spanish grants, seldom less than four thousand acres, and often
twenty thousand or more, are being subdivided, the wild ranges grow
shorter ; and as farmers become numerous they will be able to obtain
legislation compelling the herdsmen to keep their stock from trespass-
ing. This restriction is working notable changes and increasing the
cost of cattle raising ; but it is improving the stock, by inducing more
attention, and in the end will be more profitable.
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AGRICULTURE. 371
We have said that no provision is made to feed at any season, and
no shelter is given. Though this system may in three years out of
four entail no loss, there do come years when the destruction of life
among cattle, from starvation, is terrible. When the winter rains fail,
the summer pasture also fails ; and when, in the midst of winter rain,
there comes frost to retard the growth of the herbage, the feed is cut
off, and want of shelter, joined to want of food, kills off the cattle by
thousands. The winter of 1862-63 is an example of the latter, and
the summer of 1864 of the former casualty. Again, it happens after
the first rain in November has destroyed the dry herbage, there comes
a dry and cold spell, during which the growth of the grass is kept
back, causing much suffering to the cattle. In 1866, seventy thousand
head of stock were lost in the county of Los Angeles alone, and in
1864 half the native stock is said to have perished.
SHEEP Ain> WOOIi.
California is, perhaps, the best country in the world, excepting
Australia, for the raising of sheep. Nowhere do they so thrive and
multiply with so little care ; and no fleeces of similar breeds are so
heavy. Here, in the mountain pastures, they roam and feed themselves
the year round. Sheep love length of range, and they have it here.
A dry soil and climate is their special preference, and in few countries
is the dry season more protracted. Great pains have been taken to
improve the native breeds by crossing with choice foreign selections.
The cost of keeping sheep is so trifling, and the increase is so great,
that it is a very money-making business. Most of the diseases com-
mon elsewhere are unknown here. Two men and a boy will take care
of ten thousand sheep — the chief labor being to drive them into pens
dt night, to protect them from the coyotes and other wild animals —
which, however, are not numerous. Sheep in this climate are at two
years, of the same size as they are at three years of age on the Atlantic
side. The ewes begin to bear when one year old ; and twins occur
much more frequently than is usual in other countries.
One third of the wool of California is a second crop, clipped in
autumn. This second shearing, however, is disapproved of by many
sheep raisers, as tending not only to shorten the clip of the following
spring, but to rob the animal of its necessary protection during the
winter. The average quality of wool is now nearly up to half merino,
and every year it improves as the breed grows better ; but the condi-
tion of its delivery, though improving, is still complained of. Unless
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372 ' THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
shearing is done rather too early, the burrs of the burr-clover get in the
wool, and depreciate its value.
The estimates for 1867 put the whole number of sheep in the State
at over two millions, of which fifteen per cent, went to the shambles.
For 1868, nearly three millions are counted on for shearing.
The wool product of 1867 was about nine million potmds. The
very low price of wool at present gives temporary discouragement ; but
sheep husbandry in California will always pay better than in any other
State in the Union.
HOGS.
No stock in this country is more easily reared, or multiplies so rap-
idly as swine. In many places where the soil is thin, oak and other
trees supply vast ranges of mast feed — the baked soil of summer, how-
ever, renders it difficult for these animals to root well. The tule cane,
covering so very extensive an area of swamp land, has potato-like bulbs
at the root, upon which millions of swine could fatten throughout the
summer ; the spring shoots also give a good pasture. This land being
all free, and likely long to remain so, presents inducements for en-
gaging in the raising of these animals.
BEES AND HONET.
No bees were found in California at an early day. But so great has
been their increase in nine years, since they were first imported, that
honey is now very abundant.
Unlike almost everything else, the bee can be profitably raised only
under certain conditions. They must be near a river, or moist lowland.
In the great plains many of them perish in the dried up fields after the
first months of spring — ^requiring all the honey they make to keep them
alive and in health. The farmer can readily raise honey for his family,
by cultivating summer flowers. But we speak of honey culture as a
business.
The banks of the Sacramento are lined with willows and wild flow-
ers, which afford the bee rich pasturage in March, April and May.
Then follows a period of six weeks in which there is not sustenance
enough in the fields to support him, and he must draw upon the honey
in the hive. From early in July to October, the bee finds good support
from the honey dew found upon the leaves of the cottonwood, upon
some oaks and the wild cane that grows ten feet high, and has leaves
twelve inches long by one and a half in width. The honey dew is an
exudation from the body of a species of aphis, which is most plentiful
in seasons of greatest warmth. But the occasional siroccos (mentioned
elsewhere) are death to the aphis.
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AORICULTUBE. 373
Honey made from this dew is coarse and unfit for market, and it is
reserved for bee feed. In autumn there comes, in many localities, a
new variety of flower pasture; and the creosote, named from its odor,
is an annual that supplies bee feed for six weeks in September and
October, making very white honey; but it crystalizes. Spring honey is
the best; and that from the mountains command much higher prices.
The wild buckwheat affords good autumn bee pasture, and wild mustard
supplies fine feed in spring. Cephalanthus, manzanita, arbutus or
madrona, wild azalea (very long in flower), sweet alysum, alfilerilla,
clovers and a sort of wild mint supply pasture for the bee. But best
of all for rich honey, is the wild sage of the moxmtains, which flowers
from mid April to the last of May.
Mr. S. Harbison, nurseryman ^d bee culturist, near Sacramento,
is a pioneer in this pursuit, and has now one thousand hives. .He
usually sends part of his stock into the motmtains to feed on flowers
that blossom there later than in the lower valleys.
The honey of California is distinguished for its great body, but it
differs materially according to the locality and the predominant flowers
at the time of its production. The yield of honey to the bee in Cali-
fornia is double that made usually in the Atlantic States. Bees
consume here much more of their stock in simimer than in winter for
sustenance, and though they require so much less honey for support in
this country, they work and store all the same. California has a great
variety and expanse of very gay flowers, like the escolchia, that never
die ; but, as a rule, the gayer the flower the less honey it has. This
fact might furnish a text for moral instruction. Honey comes to mai^
ket from Los Angeles, and is so abundant and cheap (twenty-five cents
a pound) that the production does not seem remunerative at this time.
At fifty cents per pound it would pay well. We have the moth and
the yellow jacket, but they are not so bad as the **foul brood," which
destroys the larva — coming here through some hives sent from the
valley of the Mohawk.
INSECTS.
Until very lately California claimed immunity from nearly every
disease and every insect which afiBicted the farms and orchards of
other countries, but we are beginning to find that these evils are com-
ing. The grape fly has taken possession of the vines in several local-
ities. It is a species of microscopic grasshopper which has always
fed on the alfilerilla grass, and now shows preference for the grape
leaf. By day it lies concealed and sheltered from the sxm on the under
side of the leaf. At night it feeds on the upper part of the leaf. The
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374 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
leaf is the lung of the plant, and soon its destruction causes the fruit
to wither. The vine itself will certainly yield to this life-sapping pro-
cess ; but the evil is not yet wide spread enough to arouse public
attention to devise a remedy. Touching the stem with petroleum is
suggested, in order that the ascending vapors may kill the fly. The
apple borer and one species of curculio have been found in a few places.
Grasshoppers, and crickets, and the army worm have at times been
destructive, but not over any extended area. The wheat fly will not
probably give trouble so long as foreign grain is not imported, though
some new parasite may be looked for, following the vegetable laws
elsewhere universally revealed. Vegetables are as yet but little affected
by diseases or insect parasites ; but the forced cultivation by market
gardeners must lead to their production.
WOOD PliAlTTINO.
Wood is scarce along the line of our chief farming lands, but it
need not continue so. Trees can be planted which in five years will
give, in thinning out, most valuable wood. In six years they would
be larger than at ten years in the Atlantic States. Many of the farm-
ers of California are now in a condition to make investments of this
character. It is unnecessary to specify the trees best adapted for fuel
and for farm use, for experience will teach what varieties are best in
each locality. There are, however, many trees that would be a source
of large revenue, and of grateful shade and pleasant prospect which,
may be mentioned. The Peruvian bark tree, chincona, was imported
into India, and is now growing in extensive groves on the foot-hills of
the snowy Himalayas, producing the finest quinine and paying beyond
all other pursuits. By investing the bark with moss for eighteen
months, it thickens and grows richer in quinine. The Japan varnish
tree may be seen, in healthy growth, in the city gardens of San Fran-
cisco, and it would pay to cultivate ; the wax tree also among others.
Besides paying, these groves would beautify the landscape, now so
dreary and barren, and throw some attractions around to give an air
of home comfort^ where now seems only desolation. In France, great
amelioration of the climate is being experienced from the extended
system of artificial wood-planting inaugurated years ago by government,
under compulsory legislation.
Transpianiing Trees. — ^It is the custom here to follow the course
pursued in countries of quite different climatic requirement, in found-
ing an orchard. The tree is raised in a nursery, grafted there, and
afterwards transplanted to its permanent home in the orchard. In
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AGRICULTURE. 376
other lands, where summer showers supply moisture to the plant
through surface roots, this practice answers; but, in California, the
instinct of the plant makes its first and greatest effort in the formation
of a grand pump-root, which it sends rapidly downward in the nearest
direction to moisture, for safety to life in our long summer droughts.
The plant cannot be taken from this first position without mutilating
the pump-root, and it will not afterwards continue its course in the
same direction as before; but, instead, it throws out, probably, several
shoots in less favorable inclinations. It may be supposed that, on this
account, the tree will be less able to sustain itself, especially in seasons
of extraordinary trial. Agriculturists, from Europe, especially, aro
warned against adherence to their experiences abroad as infallible
guides in a climate so entirely dissimilar. In nothing does this coun-
sel apply so forcibly as in tree culture.
THB BIBOCOO.
During nearly every summer, some spells of extraordinary heat
occur in the interior and southern section of the State, with a burning
wind from the north — ^usually limited to three days. The thermometer
runs up to over one hundred degrees of Fahrenheit, and the hottest
current courses near the ground. In 1859, such a sirocco passed
through the nursery of Wilson Flint, at Sacramento, and destroyed
tliousands of young fruit trees by burning off a ring of bark close to
the ground. It is an early hint to the horticulturist — warning him not
to remove the lower limbs and bare the stem to exposure in this climate;
for, though the effect be not so visible on large trees, at the moment, it
must injure them, and, by repetition, bring decay.
AOBIOUIiTUBAIi IMPLBMENTS.
Labor saving machinery is largely employed in California farming.
Seeding, hay making, grain cutting and threshing machines are more
used here than in any other country, in proportion to the crops. They
cost the farmer double the prices of the Atlantic side, but the high
price of farm labor necessitates their general use. We have as yet no
steam ploughs, but in no country are they more wanted, nor is any
soil better adapted to them, there being but few stones, while the
enclosures are generally of large dimensions. The only drawback is
the scarcity of fuel, but where the ploughman's wages are three dollars
a day this expense can be afforded. The ploughing done is usually
very shallow, an evil that the steam plough woxdd correct, and bring
back to original production all lands now showing a falling off ; for, as
a general rule, our soil is deep. The gang plough, which is superced-
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376 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA,
ing the Bingle plongh, consists of two to four ploughs set in one frames
Of all the ploughs sent from abroad scarcely any exactly suit, and for
this reason the home made is increasing in favor. Now that wealth is
accumulating among farmers, it may be expected that, as in England,
they will associate together and soon have steam ploughs at every
important center. This will give great expansion to cultivation by
deeper and better dressing, and greatly increase the production of the
present area.
Steam Ploughs. — ^In England they are not locomotive. The engine is
fixed on a track at one end of the field and the gang plough is drawn
back and forth by ropes and pulleys. It turns over twenty to thirty
acres a day, and in perfect execution, surpasses the horse plough. If it
could be locomotive it would do much more work. The climate of
England is too moist for firm wheeling, and the land is also too undu-
lent. In California it is different. If ploughing be done in summer
the engine would always be sure of a hard bottom for wheeling. In
our grain valleys the sweeps of land are long and level. Perhaps there
might be difficuliy in getting the plough through some of our toughest
adobe soils in the season of their hardest baking, but then the plough-
ing time coidd be changed* In all other soils there would probably
' be no difficulty. There are in our valley lands no stones to give hin-
drance. For side-hill ploughing there would have to be special adap-
tation of machinery. Summer fallowing never can be extensively done
with horses in our dry-baked soils, and unquestioned benefits must be
lost unless steam comes to our aid, or irrigation be introduced to soften
the ground. The steam plough and its follower would give us deeper
tillage, finer pulverization, better seeding and covering, and it may be
safely added, one third more harvest This subject is ripe for notice.
There are now being brought out some California inventions in the
way of locomotive ploughs and dressers, and everything seems to prom-
ise their successful introduction here.
The Colifomia Landrdresser : a Steam Locomoiive. — ^The traction
steam plough in common use in England has been alluded to as well as
the adaptabiliiy of our lands to its use. All efforts to make a steam
locomotive plough failed there. Botary diggers have not succeeded,
and it appears to be reserved for California to bring forth an entire
new machinery; not to plough, but, still better, to dress the land — ^to
make it as if it were spaded and finely raked, and to be operated by a
locomotive steam engine.
Ploughing simply cuts a slice of land and turns it over without
much breaking its compactnesa The harrow scarifies the new surface
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AGRICULTURE. 877
superficially and covers the seed imperfectly. Boiling makes smooth
the top, but it also compacts the soil and lessens its permeability. The
land-dresser does not slice and turn over, but it cuts up, tears to pieces,
shakes the earth from all grass and weeds, and leaves the field one even
sheet of finely pulverized earth, as if it had all been spaded and passed
through a grinding mill. If seed be sown on the hard surface in
advance, the land-dresser will cover it up completely and leave it in
a soil so loose and so fine that the grain takes at once deep root and
secures the greatest vigor of growth. In our climate this condition of
the soil and of deep rooting, will enable the plant to thrive with less
spring rain; and in this mode of covering, twenty per ceni more plants
will be grown on an acre.
The land-dresser has had two public trials in adobe (stiff clay) soil
never before opened, and the same was wet and covered with herbage;
so that the principle was well tested. The California land-dresser may
be described for popular comprehension as follows : The locomotive
engine and frame were not made for the purpose, and this description
is confined to what belongs exclusively to the machine itself; premising
that there are in front two low and broad wheels, with a steering gear.
Attached to the rear end of the car is a frame of wood into which are
inserted four separated shafts, revolved by beveled cog-wheels, and
each one in a direction opposite to its neighbor. In the bottom of each
shaft are four horizontal arms; to the end of each is fixed perpendicu-
larly four knives, each made like the coulter of an ordinary plough.
There are two great wheels that operate the revolving shafts and bear
up the rear of the car. They are each eight feet high and thirty-four
inches face, giving in all five and two-thirds feet bearing on the land.
The space between the wheels is required for the works of the ma-
chinery. The car goes forward one hundred feet a minute, and the
coulter blades, penetrating the soil as the guage may limit it, revolve
horizontally, making one hundred and forty revolutions a minute. The
effect is exactly like so many augurs boring holes in a plank. In one
minute a plank, twelve feet wide, say six inches thick, and one hundred
feet long, may be conceived as turned into fine saw-dust, which occu-
pies exactly the place where the plank was. There is this difference : the
augur moves only on a fixed center, and cuts out circular slices. But
the coulter knives are moving forward with g»eat velocity, cutting an
inch at a slice; every atom is cut up into powder, and every root is
divested of its soil It leaves behind it, if it is wet clay, a smooth
bed of mud ; it is evident that if dry, it would be a bed of fine, ash-
like earth* Each set of coxdter-knives cuts a circle of three feet, and
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378 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
the four sets dress a width of twelve feet The movement is very,
like a steam propeller whirling through the water. It scatters the
earth in spray, as though it were water. Each circle cuts into the cir-
cle adjoining, so as to leave no ridge standing ; and each circle ravolves
in a direction opposite to its neighbors, so that there is no tendency to
cant towards one side. Ordinary field stones are tossed about, and do
not interfere. To guard against a fracture of the knives by larger
obstructions, there is mechanism which relieves the knives in such
cases. This was not attached on the trials made, and one circle of
knives was broken by a boulder.
The principle of the horizontal cutters has certainly proved correct,
and the execution shows how greatly superior it is to ploughing. It
only remains to be further proven by extended trials if the machine has
any unlooked for defects which may lessen its value. The working is
so simple that one cannot conceive of any difficxdty, unless it may arise
from the speed that is given — one hundred and forty revolutions a
minute to the ground cutters. The solid earth is shaken, as it were,
instantly into dust. Certainly, no machinery, or series of machines,
before applied to the dressing of soil, ever produced work at all com-
parable to this. It is not yet known what weight of machinery will be
foimd necessary — ^butfive to six tons, probably. It is intended to move
over undulating land, and on hill sides of certain gradients. It appears
as if it would dress thirty to forty acres a day. Should its success
prove complete, grain can be raised at less than half its present cost;
and twenty per cent more yield is a moderate estimate. It will relieve
the farmer of his hardest toil, and it will open a new era and brilliant
future to agriculture as a profitable industry.
The inventors of the California Land Dresser are Messrs. Coffin k
Standish, of Martinez. The probable cost may be $10,000 at the high
rates current here. The. land-dressing frame can be removed, and any
other agricultural machinery attached ; so that harvesting and thresh-
ing can be done also. It will be easy for farmers to associate in the
purchase of such a machine, and readily arrive at the comparative cost
with horse ploughing. But the greatest gain will be found in the
refined work it does, and the recuperation of our overtasked and unma-
nured soils, by going deeper, and giving renewed vigor to the growth.
As will be shown, in speaking of irrigation, soil so pulverized as not to
pack hard in the season, will keep moist in summer by reason of the
capillary conduction it keeps open for the ascent of the subterranean
waters. In many seasons, like the drought of 1864, this would save
the crop from destruction.
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AGRICULTURE. 379
Ploughing is usually done here after the first full rains of November;
but often it is interrupted by over-wet seasons. The land-dresser could
do its work all summer, so that operations need not be hastened, and
the benefit claimed for summer fallowing may be realized, if, indeed,
this system of dressing will not supercede its benefits. It may be sug-
gested that the steam power of the machine might be greatly dimin-
ished, and its liability to fracture lessened also, if the arms which
carry the knives were shortened so as to cut a circle of one half the
diameter.
IBBIOATIOK.
Except in a very small way, as in the arid plain of Los Angeles,
and in Yolo county, there is no extended system of irrigation in this
State. Cultivation is confined chiefly to places and to crops which do
not need it The various cereals mature so early in sxmimer (June)
that with a few showers in March, besides the usual rains from Novem-
ber to that month, the crop is secure. The weight of the crop is, how-
ever, determined in great measure by the later rains. Heretofore the
practice has been in setting out trees and vines to employ summer
irrigation for the first year or two, after which it is generally dispensed
with. In cases where water has not been conveniently obtainable,
this aid has been entirely dispensed with. There is, however, a vast
expanse of steppe land lying east of the great valleys, and rising in
plateaus towards the steeper hills of the mining districts, that are at
present of small account, but which could be made valuable by irriga-
tion. On these plains and rolling prairies the drought parches every-
thing. Even drinking water lies at great depths, is scant, and of bad
flavor. The soil is thin, yet every acre can be supplied with flowing
water by a proper system.
California is well situated for a grand, economic, and thorough
system of irrigation. The great snow-covered Nevadas, rising seven
thousand feet above the plains, run nearly the length of the State, and
command the whole western slope with the means of ample irrigation.
Great lakes of supply lie on the high ranges, having fine depth, and
snow remains there all summer, melting under a fervid sun. There
is reason to believe also that there are much larger bodies of water
preserved under ground than above. Sufficient water to inundate
all the present cultivated fields and orchards is now drawn from these
mountain sources for mining purposes, millions of dollars having
been invested in large ditches, often hundreds of miles long. Their
only use now is to desolate the land, to break down and wash away
thousands of acres of rich soil annually to get the gold it contains.
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880 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNLL
Whatever present value it wins, it must be at last a loss to the State,
for the land is forever destroyed. But, from these pioneer waterworks
we have complete engineering for a system of future agricxdtural irri-
gation, that will at no distant day succeed them, and perhaps compen-
sate for their terrible devastation, by doubling the production of a
far more extended area of land below. Artesian water, judging by
past experience, seems to be plentiful in all the valleys that lie embo-
somed amid broad and lofty mountains, which supply water to the
channels that in California lie deep below the surface; and to reach
them, by boring one hundred and fifty to three hundred feet, is not so
expensive as in most other countries.
Allusion is made elsewhere to the* absence of creeks ahd brooks.
They are everywhere to be found in winter rain-time, but in summer
only their stony beds are seen, or mere threads of water.
The sources of water supply in California are nevertheless fully
equal to those of other countries, and if they have no vent on the sur-
face they must have it below the surface. Evidently this is a provision
of nature to meet the exigencies of our summer drought. The same
streams and lakes that in other lands will better bear evaporation, are
here culverted over and put out of the way of absorption by our six
months of continuous sunshine. And thus a bountiful supply of water
is reserved for all who take means to bring it forth as it is needed.
Besides, the soil of California as a rule has a peculiarly open system
of pores, and the rocky measures lie mostly at steeper grades than
elsewhere, so that there is a free upward movement of water attracted
by the dry atmosphere, wherever the surface soil is kept loose enough
to give it vent. Evidence of this is given in two ways. On our hills,
so dry to the eyes, grape vines, fruit trees, forest trees, bunch grass,
and a dense mass of bushy shrubbery flourish during the entire six
months of baking and burning summer sun, evidently by the water
supplied to the roots from below.
Another curious proof is this : our dry season begins, say, May 1st,
and lasts till about November. In all reasoning we should expect that
the earth, and its springs, and all that grows upon it would continue
to become more dry, and each month more exhaustive than the preced-
ing, till the first rain arrives and brings relief. But it is not so ; the
driest time is in August. About the middle of that month the springs
begin to rise, and fountains of hill-side waters, previously dry, soon
after commence to flow again. Whatever the cause, it is certain that
the same thing occurs in the water supply to the roots of plants. This
is their salvation, and but for this provision the grass and all slightly
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AGRICULTURE. 381
rooted herbage would wither and perish. The explanation of this
interesting phenomenon is presumed to be as follows : solar evapora-
tion grows less, because of the shortening hours of day in August, and
as the relief of night time becomes greater, the ascending vapors from
the subteranean waters are checked and held in suspension, gradually
condensing till, at the surface, they meet the cool night air of this
climate and become water. Now, this process regularly gives increased
supplies of moisture to the plant, and the process must also at all
times, before August, be one that increases by night the water supply
to the trees.
When this law is understood by the owners of vineyards and or-
chards, located on the hill-sides of porous ground, and even on high
summitf(, they will find that keeping the soil loose will give better and
healthier watering to the roots than artificial irrigation from the sur-
face. If these premises are right. Nature's arrangement of the roots
should not be disturbed by transplanting.
The foregoing remarks are intended to apply to ordinary seasons,
when winter rains suffice ; but there are extraordinary seasons in Cali-
fomia, when the rain-fall is so scant that no crops are obtained ; and
there have been seasons when the rains of March and the showers of
April were so scant that our grass and grain crops were much de-
pressed below the usual standard. Our agriculturists have experienced
so few of these lessons that there has been no popular awakening to the
danger to be apprehended. Some thoughtful men, after a season of
failure, pressed upon the farmers of Yolo county a cheap and efficient
plan to secure ample irrigation for one hundred thousand acres of rich
wheat land by the waters of Cache creek. Wherever irrigation is
provided it will insure thirty-five instead of twenty bushels of wheat
per acre in an average of years. It ,will give summer crops of many
other productions^ such as flax, sugar-beets, rice, cotton and tobacco,
and would save the State from the terrible visitation of famine seasons
— ^which are certain to come ; besides, if there were such means to ren-
der farming more sure and farm homes more attractive, there is no
country to which people, not farmers, would so flock for its health, its
comfort, and its easy means of livelihood. As far as practicable, emi-
grants should seek to secure farms which can command the means of
irrigation when it becomes necessary or desirable; but it would be well
also to select lands which, in years of ordinary rain-fall, will not require
artificial watering.
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382 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
UNDER DKAIKINa.
In every season of full rainfall, as in 1866-7 and in 1867-8, the water
forms lagoons over thousands of acres of the most fertile land in the
State, rotting the growing grain. What is lost would often have made
a drain of permanent prevention. In England under-drainage is imi-
versal, and it nearly doubles the profits of all agriculture. Tiles and
drain-ploughs are used there to cheapen the process. A drain thus
made is perpetual. A farmer of Santa Clara county has forty acres now
drained. It is a stiff gravelly loam, with a subsoil of white marly clay.
Though very rich, the drowning has hitherto made it unproductive.
Now it is drained. Instead of a lagoon, slow to dry, and when dry
coated with alkali, he has a field that is quickly ready for the plough
after rain ; the soil is friable and the alkali drains oS.
FAllINE XEAB8.
Fruitful as our country is, and more than other lands equable in its
production, there have been, and there will be, occasional years of
famine to cattle, and scanty food for man. Within nineteen years there
have been three such seasons. In 1856 there was terrible loss of stock.
In 1862-3 the pasture did not respond to the winter rains, by reason of
the cool atmosphere — the stubble had been burned in many places and
the straw, as usual, consumed by fire, to get rid of it. Had the latter
been preserved it would have saved the stock from the terrible destruc-
tion that followed. In 1864 there was so scant a fall of rain that all
crops failed, cattle famished, and dire distress and high prices pre-
vailed in many places.
In some localities the grasshopper and the army caterpillar have
occasionally eaten up every green thing; and such visitations may be
expected in the future. It may hereafter be found expedient to make
some provision for feeding stock in winters of extreme severity, as well
as in seasons of famine. If there be fair winter rains, cattle fatten from
early spring to midsummer, (March to mid-July); from that time till
rain comes they have scant pickings, and always at the expense of their
flesh. Their hardest time is in November and December; the dry sum-
mer pasturage being rotted down, and the new grass unfit for cropping.
January is sometimes as bad, when a cold spell comes to retard the
growth of the sprouted herbage ; but February is usually good for pas-
ture.
IiAIB BAINS.
It may be supposed that a good rain in summer would be hailed a
blessing. Far from it. Nothing would be more disastrous. Every-
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AGMOULTUKK 383
thing seems to be arranged in the order of Nature, to suit the long
period of our drought. By reason of the manner of growth all seeds
hold firmly to the containing envelope, instead of shelling out as else-
where. All grasses that dry standing cure like hay, and carry their
usual nutriment which they retain on the field till the first rain. The
rain loosens the capsule, casts out the seed and rots the grass-hay
beyond resuscitation — since it would not suffice to make new pasture
from the seed, with one or even several showers; — ^nor could it, even
then, survive the arid sun and the newly baked surface soil. All cattle
would inevitably perish; for the summer feed, prepared expressly for a
long dry season, would be entirely destroyed, leaving not a tuft behind.
It may be thought that irrigating in summer would be a relief to the
tree and the vine, even if not really necessary. But it is not so. When
summer water is given to the plant, it closes the surface pores of the
soil by a baked paste, and the connection is broken off between the
subterranean waters and the dry atmosphere. The waters then cease
to be drawn upwards, and the roots suffer or perish. The only remedy
is to break up the baked surface and re-establish the connection. If
irrigation is employed it is necessary to continue it, for the natural and
the artificial in this case are antagonistic.
THE FABMEB*S TBOUBIiES TUT OAIjIPOBNIA.
The vast plains of rich soil that chiefly attract the farmer are tree-
less. The forests are far away in the mountains, and transportation is
very expensive. Farmers in the western Atlantic States will understand
this, for the same objection exists to their prairie lands. California
cattle men have had, so far, the free range of all unfenced lands, and
the cost of fencing out their stock is so great that fences are usually so
light as to prove an imperfect protection. In selecting land this should
be a matter of inquiry.
At the present session of the Legislature of California a great press-
ure is being made from the farming interest, asking the repeal of all
laws requiring farmers to fence out trespassing cattle, and demanding
that, instead, the owners of stock shall fence their cattle in or herd
them, and that they be responsible for damages if they allow them to
plunder their neighbor's crops. This would relieve the farmers of a
burdensome annual tax, and would greatly extend the area of cultiva-
tion. Nothing better could be done to attract immigration. The farm-
ing interest, now, far outweighs the cattle raisers, and this fact, added to
the great desire to draw immigration, may cause the repeal of the pres-
ent fence laws.
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384 • THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA-
Gophers abound almost everywhere. They lire under ground, and
feed upon the roots of trees and vegetables, and their multiplication
is enormous. They do little or no injury to the grain fields, but in the
gardens, in orchards, and shruberies they are very destructive, outting
off the roots and killing the plants. It is necessary to be very vigi-
lant to prevent their depredations. Ingenious devices are numerous
for catching gophers, and poison is extensively employed. Ground
squirrels, which also live under ground, but feed on the surface,
are destructive pests in certain localities. They are not so generally
distributed as gophers, but they rob the grain fields. The only sen-
sible relief comes from poison and chiefly from the winter rains,
which, when sufficient to damage the crops, also sometimes drown the
squirrels in their subterranean lodges by millions. But for this occa-
sional grand slaughter, their vast increase would make the country
they infest almost uninhabitable. These squirrels usually live in com-
mimities, dwelling in burrows which they often share with the rattle-
snake and a species of small owl, the whole living together harmo-
niously. The spots usually selected for these burrows are where the
ground swells into little knolls, a sandy soil being preferred, these con-
ditions affording some protection against overflow or excessive rains.
Sometimes these squirrels are solitary, living apart instead of inhabit-
ing these villages, which are not unlike those of the prairie dog.
HINTS TO THB IMMIORANT.
The immigrant will meet with some difficulty in seeking a location
for a settlement in California of which he should be advised. "We
have only two navigable rivers and but few railroads completed as yei
Several new railroads are projected, however, and will probably soon
be constructed through a number of fertile valleys. The cost of rail-
way traveling is ten cents a mile, and steamboat fare is generally five
cents per mile. On all the stage lines twenty cents per mile is the usual
fare, except when an occasional opposition reduces it for a short time.
Distances are great between settlements, and the cost of living is toler-
ably high. To get suitable land at low price requires considerable
travel by stage. On this account the immigrant, to save his purse,
should take counsel of some trusted friend^ and confine his examina-
tion to a few localities.
Farmers in the Atlantic States naturally prefer the neighborhood
of a river or at least of a running brooL We have but two streams
worthy the name of rivers properly so called — ^the Sacramento and its
confluent, the San Joaquin. The lands on their border are almost
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AGBICULTUBE. 385
entirely swamp, or subject to overflow. They breed fevers and mos-
quitoes, and have few tributaries that are not dry or nearly so in sum-
mer, and also are subject to wide overflow in winter. As a general
rule, the immigrant will find it safer to seek other localities than those
near the water courses. Almodt everywhere in the valleys water is
obtained at moderate depths, and wind-mills can be readily employed.
This sufiSces for the family, the cattle, and the gardens of the farmer.
His grain crops do not need summer water, nor do his fruit trees when
once well rooted.
C0NTBASTS.
The farmer's life in Oalifomia is unlike that of the Atlantic States.
The long summer's drought creates a vast deal of dust, which is some-
times very disagreeable. It covers nearly everything around with a
coating that lasts from May to November, and penetrates every crevice.
The earth is almost everywhere alkaline, and the dust aflects the eyes
and air passages. Traveling is rendered very xmpleasant. Flies and
mosquitoes prevail. In the rain season the mud is equally imcomf ort-
able, and wagoning is nearly impracticable. Farms are generally
much larger here than at the East and neighbors are far apart. Good
water is rare and most of it is alkaline. The absence of bams and the
small dwelling houses strike the^ stranger's eye. But, more than all,
there is an apparent want of comfort, which is, however, incident in a
measure to all new settlements. This is greatly heightened by the
absence of shade trees. Scarcely a tree is to be seen in most of our
broad agricultural plains ; and, intent only on making money, few
plant trees for shade or ornament. This will change soon, for trees
can be grown with ease and xmexampled rapidiiy, and now that the
farmers of California are almost universally in easy circumstances,
many of them have money to spare for this purpose.
Groves of trees, ornamental shrubbery and roadside shade, may be
sprung upon the landscape with magic speed in this climate. Here
and there are proofs of the sudden changes made in the whole face
of a neighborhood in this way. San Jos^ and Santa Clara may be
given as examples. So that the repeUant features spoken of are solely
owing to our own temporary neglect.
Running brooks and green summer fields we cannot have, but in
the rainy season, six months of brilliant green covers the whole face
of Nature, from dale to mountain top. Instead of the snows and
frozen groimd of the Atlantic States, the eye is charmed with the most
inviting of pictures. This feature, so unlike the Atlantic States, and
the mildness of the season, which cannot be called winter, will strike
25
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386 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
our readers abroad as a fall compensation for all the summer peculiar-
ities we have fairly stated.
ADYAHTAOES.
Among the minor advantages to farmers, enjoyed in California, a
few may be mentioned. They are not obliged to work half the season
of summer to provide food for carrying their stock over winter. They
save three quarters of the expense of fuel needed in the Atlantic States
under the present system. They have no cattle stables to clean, no
manure to cure, haul, and spread. Our mild winters lighten the work
and exposure of women. Vegetables of every kind can be had fresh
from the garden all the year, with very trifling shelter for a short time
in winter. Fruit is and ever will be plenty and cheap. The two latter
items are great promoters of health as well as economy. Fowls pick
up their own living all the year. Though the country is bare of trees,
the new settler may have shade and ornament in four years equal to
what he is accustomed to expect in seven elsewhere, for tree-growth is
very rapid, and it has little interruption in winter. His home may
have flowers trailing around it all the year by very little attention.
Thus, though at present the settlers give little or no care to such things,
it is in the power of those who cTioose, to attach their families to their
homes, and give them a settled and contented feeling, which the immi-
grant should study to cultivate. In no other country are the elements
so favorable to them in this respect.
FABM ItABOB.
In no other part of the world do farm laborers receive such liberal
wages, or fare so well, as in California. Wherever practicable labor-
saving machinery is introduced, materially lightening, in many cases,
the burden of his manual toiL In driving the gang-plough, now com-
ing rapidly into use, he performs what was before one of the hardest
services of the farm, with very little physical exertion, being comfort-
ably seated and riding along, with no other labor than that required to
guide his team and guage the easily managed machine. The wages of
a good farm hand are from tweniy-five to thirty dollars per month the
year round, or from fifty to sixty dollars during the harvest season,
board and lodging included — the former always good, and the latter,
considering the mildness of the climate, generally comfortable. In
the principal agricultural districts he is rarely ever pinched with cold,
though there is much suflering from the excessive heat that prevails in
the interior and southern portions of the State during summer. In
the regions adjacent to the coast, however, there is little to complain
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AGRICULTDBE. 387
of from the extremes of climate either waj, while the whole countij
may justlj be pronounced extremely healthy.
HARMONY AMONG PBODUCEBa
The grain grower, the dairyman, the cattle ranchero, the shepherd,
tlie orchardist, the viniculturist, each is apt to think he extols his own
pursuit by comparisons unfavorable to all the others. They all com-
bine to run down the miner ; and the speculator in ciiy lots decries all
industries as nothing in comparison with his business. The miner
represents agriculture as a slow and toilsome way to make money; and
the farmer tells you mining is all a lottery. This is a policy from which
no profit comes to any one. Every man in California^ every lot-owner
in town, farmer and mechanic, has something to gain by every success
that can be shown in whatever industry; and everything that he exhibits
as a failure, is a loss to the general reputation of California's industries,
a portion of which attaches to his own. Take away agriculture and
mining would suflfer terribly. Close the mines and the farmer's best
home market would be lost. Remove both and San Francisco would
soon lose its present proportions and the great prospects ahead.
VINICULTURE.
If there be any one vegetable growth which more than any other finds
a congenial home over hill and dale and high mountain ranges in Califor-
nia^ and which nearly every one plants, it is the grape vine. So general
is the distribution that it is not easy to number the vines now growing.
But there cannot be less than tweniy-five millions of vines; and men of
good judgment say at least thirty millions. Two thirds of these are
the native Los Angeles grape. It is a good bearer and never fails. Its
berry is the size of a large musket ball. From this hardy grape are
made, by varied processes. White Wine of the hock kind. Claret, Port,
Sherry, Madeira, Champagne, Angelica;, and some others.
Many viniculturists are cultivating foreign grapes of all kinds, aiming
to make finer varieties of wines that will pay them better. The most
prominent are Black Hamburg — a fine claret maker; Beisling, for hock
wine; Chasselas, for light sauteme; Isabella, Catawba, Muscat, Tokay,
and Tinto. The Zechfenthal is a new variety coming into great favor.
Every grape is capable of being made into several varieties of wine.
Catawba is chiefly esteemed to impart boquet to other wines; alone, it
is rather rank. Thiriy to fifty other varieties, now on trial, might be
enumerated.
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388 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
Mr. John Pereira (a Portogaese), at Jamestown, Tuolumne county,
has a luxuriant growth of choice vines from the Island of Madeira,
yielding wine of delicious flavor — ^the leading varieties being Tinto, a
dark red berry; Malvizia^ a large yellow berry; Verdeilho, golden yel-
low fruit, and the Bualo, also a yellow berry. This gentleman has one
hundred and sixty acres of hill land in orchard and vineyard.
In a vineyard at Folsom, there are nearly sixiy acres of very choice
grapes devoted exclusively to making select wines, and a ready market
is found for tweniy thousand gallons annually.
We mention these vineyards, because their extent shows what is
being done in wine making in the midst of the mines^ and far from
what are the great wine centers.
Fully one half our vines are in lowlands, as it was supposed they
would there stand drought best. This is found to be an error. Every-
where on the steep hills of the interior the vine grows and thrives with-
out irrigation. Many have watered, but every year the practice is
being abandoned as not only unnecessary but harmful to the vigor of
the vine and to the fine flavor of its wine. Once fairly rooted, the vine
stands the summer's long drought better than any other plant ; but if
taught to depend on artificial watering it is divested of its natural
instinct, which directs it to send down its pump-root to the line of per-
petual moisture. The superior flavor of mountain wines is tending
unmistakably to transfer the culture to the cheap and ample ranges in
which our gold mines are situated. There are three distinct wine dis-
tricts in California : first, the southern, or Los Angeles, making Port
and other sweet wines, and white wines of much spirit and little aroma;
second, the Coast Bange, including Sonoma, Napa, etc., making white
and red acid wines — ^Hock, Sauteme, Claret, etc. ; third, the foot-hills
of the Sierra Nevadas, in the gold mining range, including Folsom,
Sonora, El Dorado, etc., making dry wines of extraordinary bouquet
and aroma — Sherry, Madeira, Teneriffe, etc. ; also, Port and German
wines, the latter having a high aroma unlike any Bhine wine.
The average number of vines to an acre is about nine hundred,
which make generally eight himdred gallons of wine, and twenty of
brandy from the residue. In France, three hundred gallons of wine,
and four to five gallons of brandy are made per acre. The predomi-
nance in Europe is acid ; in California, saccharine matter. In one
hundred pounds of California must, we have twenty-five to forty pounds
of sugar ; in Europe, fifteen to tweniy pounds.
In California no doctoring is done, no flavoring, no coloring, no
sweetening; but some brandy is added from the same grape to some of
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AQBICULTUBE. 889
the sweet wines. Nothing can be procured for adulteration that will
not cost more than the pure juice of the grape. So that all dealers
and consumers abroad may be quite sure that wine leaves California
in perfect purity.
The product of Calif omia wine for 1866 was about 2,600,000 gal--
Ions, and brandy 150,000 gallons. For 1867, it is estimated at 4000,-
000 gallons of wine and 400,000 of brandy, the reduction of the excise
tax haying increased the production of brandy.
Orapes are usually bought by the wine maker, and delivered at his
press clean for seveniy-five cents per one hundred pounds. In one
thousand pounds scarcely one pound of unripe or rotted berries has
to be cut out from the bunches. It is a great saving of labor over
what is customary even in most favored places in Europe. Besides,
it is an earnest of our wines being better, for where a notable propor-
tion needs such culling, there is much passed to the press as not impeiv
fect enough for rejection which is not perfect The dealer pays the pro-
ducer tweniy-five to forty cents a gallon for new made wine, without
packages. There has been no failure of the grape crop in any year
of our experience ; and vines seventy years old at the Mission vine-
yards are healthy and fruitful as ever.
The vine suffers nothing from elemental disturbances. It is not
mildewed nor storm-stripped; nor does it need leaf-pulling to give sun
to ripen the grapes. Stakes are used but a short time; soon the vine
acquires great size of stem and stakes are dispensed with. In appear-
ance, the vine in fruit is like an umbrella opened oui The vine dis-
eases of Europe are not known here. But a microscopic grasshopper,
heretofore infesting the alfilerilla grass, has in some localities, as at
Cache creek and Sonoma^ begun to leave the grass as it dies and to
take to the vine, resting by day under the leaf, and^at night feeding on
the upper side. It destroys the bearing power, and must finish the
vine at last if no remedy be found. It is yet not so much known as to
arouse invention to seek for remedies. Spring frosts seldom affect the
vine here. Manure is not used. The soil is almost everywhere strong
in the elements required by the vine — ^it being more or less volcanic,
especially in the foot-hills. In the third year the vine begins to be
profitable, and in the sixth and seventh year it becomes a strong
bearer, needing no attention for winter protection.
Wine matures fast in this dry, warm, evaporating air, and in three
years it has the age of eight years in Europe. Dealers usually hold it
till the third year before tapping it for sale. The wines of California
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390 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA.
have so little free acid that they are easily preserved. The planting
of vines has ran far ahead of the wine-making facilities.
Four fifths of the wine of California is consumed in this country,
and this does not pay enough to encourage the desired expansion of
wine factories just yet ; but everything is promising us a large export
demand, which, in fact, has already set in. However superior our
wines, their unaccustomed taste demands time to induce a change and
for a new flavor to obtain preference. Considering this very great
difficulty in the way of progress, the California wines are gaining
favor with unexampled speed, which ought to satisfy us.
The white wine or hock of Los Angeles and Sonoma has very much
the largest sale East. Germans and other Europeans are also showing
a preference for ii The yearly sale is five hundred thousand gallons
now, and it is increasing full thiriy per cent, annually. It is a decided
success, and the broad base now established is reliable for permanence.
The price is highly remunerative.
Port wine, from the foot-hills back of Los Angeles, and from the
Mission grape, has also found great favor, and the sales in New York
for 1867 amounted to one hundred and fifiy thousand gallons, at pay-
ing rates. This wine suits the American taste, takes well in Canada,,
and orders for it come to New York from Denmark and North Ger-
many. Bussia has not been tried, but they who best know the taste
of that country, are quite confident of its success there. London
dealers pronounce favorably, and an eminent house offers a good pay-
ing price if San Francisco parties will send not less than two thousand
pipes a year and give exclusive control. It is pronounced fuHy equal
to good Oporto, and at five years old equal to eight there.
It may be noted that there is a very great difference in our port
wines. In many localities the grape is not as saccharine as it should
be for a sweet wine, and in some places the spirit in the wine greatly
exceeds the ordinary standard. All this will soon require distinct
brands.
The wine third in demand is Angelica, the sales in New York now
leaching eighty thousand gallons yearly, and increasing very fasi It
should be understood that this is not confectioned, a small quantiiy of
brandy from the same grape merely being added.
The fourth in order of sale is sherry, and it bids fair to grow in
favor. The fifth is sparkling champagne, and from the excellence
this wine has attained in the experiments already largely made, we
have no doubt a brilliant success awaits it. Dealers are making ready
for a greatly extended market. The sixth and seventh in order are
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AGBICULTURE. 391
muscat and claret. Thej are good wines, but not jet sufficiently tested
in the Eastern markets. Many varieties of exceedingly rare kinds
give also assurance of their finding favor whenever made known.
The wines of California most resemble those of Spain, Himgary,
Greece, and Cape Constantia, rather than those of France, Italy, and
Gtermany. But we shall not probably make our best wines till we cease
to strive for foreign imitations, and strike out boldly for the manu-
facture of new kinds of wines, which will better bring out the excel-
lencies with which Nature has no doubt enriched the grape in this
peculiar climate.
California wines, at the French Exposition, attracted the admiration
of the jurors. Their judgment was that they are so unlike wines of
known European brands as to render comparison difficult ; but they
were struck with their fine fruity flavor, their rich body, and the ripe-
ness attained in so short a time. They expressed an idea that, judg-
ing by the merits of our production, and our inexperience, with
elements so fine as our grapes possess, that we must soon succeed in
rivalling the wines of Spain, Hungary and Germany. We have the
judgment of the people of Chicago on the dry wines from El Dorado
county still more decided, for they are taking all that are sent to them.
TO BIPSN Aia> PBESEBVB WINB.
In the days of Pliny the Bomans used to subject their wines to a
warm bath. A French expert reports to his government that, by im-
mersing wine in bottles in a water bath of 130^ for a short time, the
minute vegetable fungus that generates acid is destroyed, the wine
mellows immediately, as if it had age, and its condition is preserved
indefinitely.
Our brandy has already won decided favor, and, judged by the stand-
ard of taste in New York, it is superior to Eochelle, and may in time
supplant all French brandies. The orders and prices for 1868 indicate
an export demand for one hundred thousand gallons. New brandy is
taken by dealers here at $1.60 to $2 a gallon — excise tax paid.
We have said enough to show that the viniculturist of California has
good prospects before him — ^but he is not, as yet, making much money.
He has planted too fast. His vineyard is growing more valuable by
the atesAj development of his plants, and, from the way our wines and
brandies are taking the market, it will not be long before capital will
feel encouraged to put up central wine manufactories and vaults that
will use up the vast crop of grapes now being produced. Already there
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392 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBKIA.
are some wine vaults in San Francisco containing each over a million
gallons of wine ripening.
It would probably be better for new comers to buy vineyards already
growing, and go into farming as an adjunct at present. It is not the
case here as in France and Germany, where twelve to twenty acres of
vineyard are considered a rich heritage, though it may be so a few years
hence. A small amount of money will buy such a vineyard here at
this time. We have presented facts sufficient to show that wine can
be made cheaper in California than elsewhere, and probably of better
quality; and it is fair to presume that within the next three years there
will be a great advance in vineyard properly.
WmB ICEBCHAKTS OF BAN FRANCISCO.
One of the most prominent dealers is the pioneer house of Kohler
& Frohling. They have also a house in New York, (Perkins, Stem &
Go.,) and also agencies in Boston and Chicago for the sale of their
wines. This house embarked in the business in 1854 ^^^ hy persever-
ing against great difficulties has now established a reputation and a
business that is likely to become very profitable. They are success-
fully extending the preference for California wines far and wide. The
article procured of them may be depended on for puriiy, as they do not
adulterate at all. They have one million five hundred thousand gallons
of pure California wine in their vaults in San Francisco. Mr. Kohler,
of this firm, has been siyled the Longworth of the Pacific.
The Buenavista Yinicultural Society, and I. Landsberger, make a
specialty of champagne wine, and the qualiiy and purity of their wines
are now established. M. Bobert of New York represents the former,
and is also agent of Sansevain Bros, of San Francisco. Jackson &
Wetherbee, of the El Dorado Moimtain Vineyard, have a house in Chi-
cago where most of their wines are sold. The Anaheim Company of
Los Angeles, make excellent wines and have vaults in San Francisco.
All these houses sell only pure wines, and they are every way reli-
able.
There must be in California at this time, including the last vintage,
at least five million gallons of wine — a fact sufficiently indicating the
magnitude which commerce in this article is likely to attain in the early
future.
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AOBICULTUBB. 393
SILK CULTURE.
The mulberry tree thrives wonderfully in our soil. The State of Oali-
fomia has offered a premium of two hundred and fifty dollars for every
five thousand trees, to be paid for when they are two years old, besides
a premium on cocoons of three hundred dollars for every one hundred
thousand — the object being to aid silk-making in becoming a fixed
industry. Enough has been done on a lai^e scale, in different locali-
ties, to prove that our mulberry leaves, our silk worms, our climate,
and the silk we make, excel other silk countries in all these particulars.
According to the opinions of parties most conversant with the subject,
the mulberry trees now set out, and growing in this State, number
about four millions — the production of eggs keeping pace with this
extensive planting. But the foreign demand for our eggs is becoming
so large that it threatens to retard the immediate extension of silk
making in this State. In France the worms suffer so from disease that
large orders from that country for our more healthy eggs are constantly
being filled — a condition of things that promises to last for some time.
80 long as this call is kept up the manufacture of silk must necessarily
be curtailed, as the selling of the eggs will be foimd more profitable
than making the fabric. Italy and Mexico are also sending here for
eggs — and while these are more healthful, producing more vigorous
worms^ the cocoons of California are also larger than those of other
coimtries. The white cocoon worm of Japan, and the yellow of China,
are found suitable to our climate.
California has peculiar advantages for silk growing, some of which
are here presented, since they are so thoroughly proven as to be reli-
able in every particular. The white and black mulberry, and every
other kind thrives here. But Mr. L. Prevost, of San Jos^, selects the
muUicatdis, (much-leaved), the white, and particularly the Moretti, (large
and thick leaves), for the superior silk it makes. In this climate the
mulberry tree displays the same instinct as all other trees, its first
strong movement being to send down its tap-root to the seat of per-
manent moisture. It is thought that in seasons of ordinary winter
rains irrigation will not be necessary — ^without it, the worms will be
better, and the strength of the silk greater. The mulberry attains a
growth here in three years equal to five years in France, and the yield
of leaves is much greater. It throws out a vast exhuberance of branches,
and has such power of recuperation that Mr. Prevost has adopted a
new plan for gathering the leaves, which saves three fourths of the
labor required in France, and is a very great improvement to the con-
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394 ^ THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
venience of the worm, and in preventing waste of leaves. He does not
pluck the leaves, but cuts off whole branches. This gives the worm
spacious and cleanly feeding-way, keeps the leaves fresU, and saves
them from being soiled. The tree is not at all injured, when judgment
is used in limiting the cutting. This is the practice in Japan.
It will scarcely be credited abroad, but it is a fact, that cuttings
planted in winter do yield leaves enough in the following summer for
no mean amount of food suitable for the younger worms. The shoots
from one year's growth are usually ten to twelve feet long — ^fifteen feet
often. In three years from the time of planting the cutting, the mul-
berry tree in this climate is fit for regular cropping.
COCOONS.
Two crops of cocoons are raised in the year, viz., in May and July,
the whole process requiring six weeks. Artificial heat is not needed.
There are no interruptions in this climate from thunder storms, or wet
and cold spells, which kill so many worms in Europe, shorten the pro-
duction, and injure the silk. For upon the imbroken continuity of the
process depend the amoimt and the quality of the silk the worms make.
Nothing does more damage to quality than cold checks. They are like
cold nights upon cotton, making the fibre short and brittle.
The use of kilns for destroying the insect in the cocoon is dispensed
with here, the summer sun sufficing. The cocoons are placed in
troughs with a glass covering, and exposed for two or three days, which
is effectual.
Of all industries, the rearing of worms and reeling silk from the
cocoon is the most simple, the least laborious, and least monotonous.
It requires in the climate of California the smallest outlay for shelter
and for starting. The worm has no diseases, there are no wet spells
to injure the leaf, and no cold snaps to check and mar the work.
Land here is cheap, and growth is so exhuberant that there is no
incentive to push the tree into unhealthy bearing, the result of which
has been so fatal to the worm and the silk in France.
The extraordinary advantages of our climate have attracted the
attention of silk men in Europe, and we are advised that the immigra-
tion of such persons in considerable numbers is probable. Everything
points to a very early expansion of silk making here, and it is quite
clear that California is destined to be one of the foremost manufac-
turers of silk fabrics for the consumption of the world.
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AGBICULTUBE. 395
DISEASES OF Sn<K WOBHS.
As yet there are no diseases in the cocooneries of California. The
only pest is ants, which attack and destroy the worms, but they are
readily avoided, by keeping the legs of the stands in water. But in
order not to be led into French errors, which have bred disease, it
may be well to mention the cause of its introduction in France.
Firstly: A system has been pursued there for some years, under
the guide of science, of forcing the trees **to give all their vital powers
to the production of greater leafage." This is done by just such arti-
ficial substitution for the natural law of growth as is applied to grape
culture. Pruning knives and close stripping of the leaves have wrought
the mischief. So, likewise, depending solely on varieties which make
greater weight of leaf, not sufficiently regarding the health and quality
of the food nor the strength of silk it makes.
Secondly: Selecting eggs from the biggest cocoons only, year after
year. The law is the same for all living organisms. The silk worms
of France have lost their vigor — they can no longer stand a thunder
storm — they cannot clear the silk they spin of the surplus silicious
matter, which in delicate humaniiy cumbers the kidneys and is an
obstacle to every function of the bodily organs. This is the cause of
the '^ cutting" of modem silk fabrics, and the absence of the enduring
silk dress goods of former times.
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CHAPTER VI.
GEOLOGY.*
General Outlines of Topography— Geology of Coast Banges— Monte Diablo Hange— Coal
Beds— Peninsula of San Francisco — North of San Francisco Bay — South of Monterey
Bay— Southern End of Tulare Valley— Geology of the Sierra Nevada— The Great Auri-
ferous Belt— Southern portion of the Gold Field— Mariposa County— The Fremont Grant
— Mining— Tuolumne County— Table Mountains— Fossil Bemains — Calaveras County —
Union Copper Mine— Gold Mining— Amador County— El Dorado County — Placer Couniy
Nevada County— Sierra County— Plumas County.
The main physical features of the State of California are so prom-
inent, and arranged upon so grand a scale, that a general view of its
topography is essential to a proper comprehension of its geology. The
coa^t line stretches in a northwesterly direction from about the parallel
of 32^ 30', to that of 42^ north latitude. It is but little broken up, the
most marked indentation being the Golden Gate, the outlet of the bay
of San Francisco. The State has a nearly imiform width, from east to
west, of two himdred miles. A great central valley, having its longer
axis in a direction northwest and southeast — that is, parallel with the
general trend of the coast, is inclosed and bordered by the Sierra
Nevada mountains on the east, and the Coast Bange on the wesi The
northern end of the valley is formed by the junction of these two moun-
tain ranges near Shasta City (latitude 4(P 35'), and the southern by the
union of the same, near Tejon Pass (latitude 35^). North and south of
these two points it is solely for geological considerations that the line of
demarcation, between the Sierra and Coast Banges can be drawn; for,
topographically, they are one and the same.
* In the preparation of this chapter the following authorities relatiye to the geology of
Califomia have been consulted, viz.: Reports of the State Geological Survey: Prof. J. D.
Whitney ; Pacific Bailroad Beports; Geological Beconnaisance in Califomia: W. P. Blake;
Placers of the Middle Yuba: Prof. B. Silliman; Pe la Production des M^taux Pr^euz en
Califomie: P. Laur; and Proceedings of Califomia Academy of Sciences. To the former of
these, as being the only work based upon a systematic survey of the States we desire parti-
cularly to acknowledge our indebtedness.
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GEOLOGY. 397
The crest of the Sierra, which is marked bj a long and nearly
straight line of cidminating peaks, extends from Mount Shasta to the
Tehatchajpah Pass, a distance of nearly five hundred miles.
The ascent from the great central valley of California to the summit
of the Sierra is comparatively easy and gradual, but the eastern slope
of the chain is bold and abrupt, and forms the western wall of that
vast sterile tract of country included between the Bocky Moimtains on
the east and the Sierra Nevada on the west, in which are the great
silver mines of Nevada.
The Coast Eanges are not so strongly marked by any one line of
dominant peaks, but form a broad belt of mountains bordering the
western part of the State, made up of minor ridges having a genercd
parallelism of trend to each other and the coast; between which, par-
ticularly south of the bay of San Francisco, are included long and
narrow valleys remarkable for their productiveness and salubrity.
The great central valley, which, with its bordering mountain chains,
embraces the middle, larger, and by far the most important part of the
State, is drained by the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. These
are the main commercial arteries of California; furnishing, as they do,
the means of rapid and cheap transportation from the coast to the
interior, both north and south. The former rises in the neighborhood
of Mount Shasta and flows south, receiving numerous tributaries from
the east, fed by the melting snows of the Sierra — ^the latter runs in a
general northerly direction, having its corresponding affluents from the
east, and both uniting at a point about midway on the western side of
the valley, just north of Monte Diablo, discharge their waters success-
ively into Suisun, San Pablo and San Francisco bays, and from thence
through the Golden Gate into the ocean. This succession of bays is
the only break through the Coast Ranges that extends from the great
central vaUey to the ocean.
Our geographical and geological knowledge of the extreme north-
em and southern portions of the State is very limited. Both are thinly
settled, and from natural causes have not received as large a share of
attention as the middle and great gold producing section.
Having thus given a general view of the mountain chains, valleys,
and rivers, we now pass to the consideration of the geological structure
of the former, and of those facts which bear upon the mineral wealth
of this wonderfully rich and favored State — a subject that demands
far more than the limited space at our disposal, but of which the
most important facts and salient features hitherto ascertained are here
given.
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398 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CAUFOBNIA.
MONTE DIABLO RANGE.
Of the nnmerons minor mountain ranges which together make up
the broad belt of elevations between the great central valley and the
ocean, the one which has been most thoroughly studied, and furnished
by far the greater part of the data upon which conclusions have been
formed as to the geological age of the others, is the Monte Diablo
range proper, extending from Suisun Bay on the north to Paso Koble,
near Fort Tejon, on the south, a distance of over one hundred and fifty
miles. To the consideration of the geology of this range, therefore,
more space is devoted than to that of either of the others ; and, further,
because in structure and material it is in a high degree similar to them,
being constituted of strata of the same geological age, and rocks simi-
lar in their lithological characters. Its eastern border, along the cen-
tral valley, is well defined; but on its western side are numerous spurs
jutting obliquely to the northwest, that form for comparatively short
distances distinct local mountain ranges, but which are finally merged
into the more continuous range known as the Monte Diablo, receiving
its name from its most northern peak, which lies but little north of
east from the city of San Francisco, about thirty miles distant.
This mountain, though not as high as others in the chain further
south, being but 3,876 feet in elevation, nevertheless, from the compar-
atively isolated position in which it stands, and the extensive view to
be obtained from its summit, is its most conspicuous peak. It is also
especially important on account of the coal beds that occur on its
northern flank, which are of vast economic value to the State, being
the only extensive deposits of coal yet discovered within its limits;
The range, which attains an average elevation of perhaps three
thousand feet, is marked by depressions occurring at rather short
intervals, the most important of which is Livermore Pass, a short dis-
tance south of Monte Diablo, being the lowest (680 feet), and affording
an easy route for a railroad connecting San Francisco with Sacramento
— an important link in the future great continental thoroughfare.
The mountain masses are almost wholly made up of cretaceous and
tertiary strata, often extensively altered, and presenting instances of
peculiar local metamorphism. The general trend of the range is
northwest and southeast, but the rocks have almost every possible dip
and strike. Eruptive rock is not a marked feature of the chain, but
occurs at various points throughout its length.
Monte Diablo itself is made up of a central mass of metamorphic
cretaceous rocks covering an area of twenty square miles, surrounded
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GEOLOGY. 399
and overlaid by unaltered cretaceous strata, upon whicli rest conform-
ably the niiocene and pliocene divisions of the tertiary, the eocene
being apparently wanting. In the examination of the metamorphic
rocks of Monte Diablo, the passage of cretaceous shales into jaspery
rock, and of argillaceous sand-stones into serpentine, is shown to great
perfection, and is especially interesting, as these form such a consider-
able part of the rocks found throughout the Coast Banges, and as it
has been the means of identifying the age of rocks in other localities
in which fossils are wanting or sparingly occur,
HONTB DIABLO- OOAI< BEDS.
The Monte Diablo coal beds are in the upper limit of the cretace-
ous, in a ridge on the northern flank of the mountain, and dip at an
angle of from forty-five to tweniy-six degrees to the north, the inclina-
tion gradually becoming less and less as their course is followed to the
east and southeast, to the San Joaquin plains.
The principal mining center is at Somersville and Nortonville,
(small towns separated by a narrow ridge,) about five miles distant
from the San Joaquin river, and from eight to nine himdred feet above
it. The mines at both places are connected with the river by railroads,
which have been constructed for the cheap and rapid transportation of
coal to a point of shipment by water, and are somewhat remarkable
for the necessary high gradients and short curvatures employed. The
workable beds are two in number, varying in width from thirty to
fifiy inches, and furnish a good article of bituminous, non-caking coal.
The topography in this viciniiy has permitted the mines to be opened
by tunnels, and comparatively short inclined shafts. The total amount
of coal shipped from them during the past year, 1867, is stated to
have been 109,490 tons — 38,168 tons being furnished by the Black
Diamond Company's mines at Nortonville.
Within the past year developments of the same beds have been in
progress upon the *'Bancho de los Meganos," better known as the
Marsh ranch, at a point six miles east from the mines above men-
tioned, just within the limits of the eastern foot-hills of Monte Diablo,
and at an elevation of one hundred and thirty-five feet above the river.
Here the beds are less inclined, and it is highly probable that fewer
faults or dislocations will be found in working them in this vicinity than
at Somersville, where their inclination is steeper and the disturbances
have been greater. At this point, being at such a small elevation above
the river, their exploitation involves the sinking of deep shaf ts» and the
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400 THE KATUBAL TTEALTH OF CALIFOBXIA.
removal of considerable qnantities of water by pumping — a difficnlty
which snbstantially constructed works and adequate machinery will
OTcrcome. The limited extent of onr coal field renders this new derel-
opment especially important, and it is probable that before long numer-
ous collieries will be established east of the principal mines, which
have heretofore furnished nearly all the coal shipped from the Monte
Diablo beds.
In connection with the coal on the Marsh ranch, an extensiye bed
of superior clay occurs. This furnishes the material for the potteiy
established during the past year, at Antioch, on the San Joaquin river,
ten miles distant. The success of the enterprise has been even greater
tiian was anticipated, and these works are now producing large quanti-
ties of earthenware, as good, if not better, than that imported from the
Eastern States^ and at a lower price. Fire-brick have also been made
from this clay, which, it is claimed, are equal in quality to the best
' ' Stourbridge "* brick.
In this connection it will not be out of place to suggest to the com-
])anies interested at Somersville and Nortonville, a combination of
their interests, and the driving of a tunnel starting from the plains
bordering the hills, and between them and the Sacramento river, at as
low a level as possible, and running so as to cut the beds at right
angles to their strike. Such a tunnel would probably not exceed three
miles in length, would afford perfect drainage and ventilation for the
mines, and would materially reduce the cost of their development and
the extraction of coal. It should be wide enough for a double track
or tramway. The expense of its maintenance would probably not sur-
pass^ if it should equal, that of two railroads with high grades and
short curves, while the cost of transportation would be considerably
diminished. Another most important consideration is the opportunity
that such a tunnel would afford for working the mines to a greater
depth than could otherwise be attained. The soft and friable nature
of the unaltered rocks which overlie the coal beds would render the
work comparatively inexpensive and easy of execution.
Analyses of the Monte Diablo coal, made quite early in the histoiy
of the development of the mines, show it to contain a remarkably small
percentage of ash and sulphur, but a large amount of water. A marked
improvement in the quality of the coal since the mines have been opened
to a greater depth, and these analyses were made, is acknowledged.*
* An analysis of Monte Diablo coal, from the Pittsburg mine, made in Jannarj, 1867,
bj W. P. Blake, shows the following result : Water, 3^ ; bituminous subBtanoes, 47.05 ;
fixed carbon, 41.90 ; ash, 4.71 ; no sulphur.
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GEOLOGT. 401
Both copper (chalcopyrite) and quicksilver (cinnabar) ores have been
found ill the metamorphic cretaceous rocks of Monte Diablo, but neither
promises to be of future importance, as they occur in very irregular
deposits of limited extent Northwest, and in the vicinity of Monte
Diablo, are extensive deposits of travertine or calcareous tufa, consist-
ing of a very pure carbonate of lime, deposited from water of hot springs
containing lime in solution, which undoubtedly existed at one time at
the localities where they occur. The present expense of fuel and trans-
portation prevents these deposits from being quarried and burned for
lime.
SOUTH OF HOHTB DIABLO.
South of Monte Diablo, a depression in the tertiary hills, and exten-
sive denudation, owing to the soft and unaltered character of the sand-
stone, form Livermore Pass. The strata on the east side dip to the
northeast, and on the west to the southwest Within a short distance
south of this pass deposits of coal, known as the "Corral Hollow'' mines^
occur, and evidences of the approach to another metamorphic center
are to be seen. The bed or beds attain a greater thickness than at
Monte Diablo, but are more disturbed, and show numerous faults or
dislocations. They stand at a high angle, and dip in opposite direc-
tions within a short distance. Attempts have been made to open these
mines, but they have thus far proved unsuccessfuL The coal here is
at about the same elevation above tidewater as at the Monte Diablo
mines.
From this point, going south to Pacheco Pass, a distance of fifty
miles, the range rapidly rises, becomes broader and very rough, hav-
ing many elevated points along it, the highest being Mount Hamilton,
nearly east of San Jos^, 4443 feet high. The range then decreases in
height to Pacheco's Pass, the loftiest point of which is 1,470 feet
Between Livermore and Pacheco passes the San Pablo hills on the
east side of the bay, so prominently seen from San Francisco, become
mei^ed into the main Monte Diablo range.
South of Corral Hollow, on the eastern side, in the numerous canons
opening into the San Joaquin vaUey, the structure of the range is well
shown. It consists of a center of metamorphic cretaceous rocks,
flanked by an enormous thickness of unaltered cretaceous strata. The
latter consist of sandstones, with interstratified shales. A coarse con-
glomerate, the boulders in which are of metamorphic rock differing
from that composing the main mass of the moimtains, occurs on the
outer margin of the hills towards the San Joaquin plain.
These unaltered cretaceous and tertiaiy strata flank the entire range
26
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402 THE NATUBAL 1?EALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
on the eastern side, as far north as its junction with the Sierra NeTada.
The absence of the tertiary is marked bj the precipitous nature of the
range where it joins the plains, as opposed to the low rolling hills
where the terticuy overlies the cretaceous.
Along the eastern flank, the tertiary, as far as known, rests con-
formably upon the cretaceous, as at Monte Diablo. The metamorphic
rocks in this yiciniiy have the same general characters, being marked
by jaspers, serpentine, and occasionally mica slate. Their limits are
well indicated by the growth of forest trees, which is very meager upon
the hills made up of unaltered strata^ they being generally very dry
and barren.
At the mouth of Lone Tree Canon is an ancient terrace underlaid
by cretaceous shales, and covered with deposits of graveL The meta-
morphic center of this range extends south of San Carlos mountain,
which is nearly the culminating point, and in the broadest part of the
range — ^its height above tide water being 4443 feet
The summit of Pacheco's Peak, a little south of east from the town
of Gilroy, as well as those of other and higher peaks, in a line crossing
the range obliquely to the southeast, are of trachyte. This is the first
known occurrence of eruptive rock in the main Monte Diablo Bange
south of Suisun bay. To the south, the tertiary belt on the eastern side
appears to widen, and at a i>oint a few miles east of the New Idria
mine it is believed that the Eocene epoch of that age may be repre-
sented— ^which is notable as being, perhaps, the only locality of Eocene
yet discovered in the State.
Cinnabar is found at various points in a line extending from San
Carlos to New Idria, a distance of three miles. The deposits have
been developed by the New Idria Quicksilver Mining Company, and
have yielded, and are now producing, a considerable amoimt of metaL
The mines are just within the eastern limits of the metamorphic
cretaceous. The rocks are sandstones and slates, in various stages of
metamorphism. The ore, which is largely intermixed with iron pyrites^
occurs in these rocks in very irregular deposits.
In Monterey couniy, on Clear creek, an eastern branch of the San
Benito — ^which, as is characteristic of the streams throughout the Coast
Banges, flows for some distance nearly in the direction of the stratifi-
cation, then turning abruptly to the west, breaks through the hills in a
narrow gorge, and joins the San Benito at a point about forty miles
south of San Juan — are other deposits of cinnabar extending, over a dis-
tance of two or three miles to Picacho Peak, some ten or twelve miles
west of San Carlos mountain. This line is marked by very bold and
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GEOLOGT. 403
massive outcrops of the peculiar silicions rock, known throughout the
Coast Banges as ** quicksilver rock." It is often highly discolored, by
decomposition of iron pyrites probably, and traversed by veins of pure
white quartz, affording most beautiful specimens of chalcedony, often
with most exquisite drusy surfaces of minute quartz crystals. This
line of outcrops, resembling fortifications, as seen from a distance,
crowning the summits of the hills, from its durable character has with-
stood the action which has disintegrated and removed the softer mag-
nesian rocks which appear to inclose it, bringing them out into bold
relief. It is understood that developments are now in progress, with,
however, the doubtful prospect that must ever attend the search for ore
which occurs in such imcertain and irregular deposits as cinnabar.
Should tliey prove successful, the locality is in every respect favorable
for its economical reduction in close proximity to the mines, wood and
water being abimdant, conditions that are not as favorable at the New
Idria mines farther east.
Tlie San Benito vaUey is long, narrow, and nearly straight, and
separates the Gavilan from the main Monte Diablo Bange, for a dis-
tance of about seventy miles. The stream of the same name has its
main sources in their point of imion. The rocks occurring along its
course are generally metamorphic sjid largely magnesian ; frequent
enormous land slides in the hills bordering the eastern side of the
valley are seen to have taken place quite recently. During the dry
season, the stream, which is small, appears only at intervals of ten or
twelve miles, and the water is strongly alkaline to the taste. Near its
sources it flows a constant and steady stream of good water.
Not far from the quicksilver deposits just mentioned, and the San
Benito river, large masses of chromic iron are found. This ore of
chromium also occurs between New Idria and San Carlos, in enormous
masses, and, in fact, led to the discovery of the quicksilver mines. It
is not unlikely that the San Benito mines are but the extension of the
New Idria deposits farther east
On the Arroyo Joaquin Soto, an eastern branch of the San Benito,
further north, are enormous deposits of post-tertiary gravel, in some
places greatly disturbed, even dipping vertically — a fact which is very
interesting, as an illustration of how recent and extensive disturbances
have taken place in the Coast Banges. Terraces, in one instance five
in number, are found in this cafion, which Prof. Whitney remarks in
his report, seem to have been formed by successive elevations rather
than by gradual erosion at the mouth of the valley.
The tertiary is more extensively developed on the western than on
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404 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
idle eastern side of the Monte Diablo Bange, towards the north. The
hills bordering the San Jose valley on the east belong to this period,
and are from one thousand to twelve hundred feet in elevation. The
rocks are highly altered in places. A tertiary ridge extends to the
northwest, separating San Jose and Calaveras valleys.
THE OONTBA COSTA HHjLfl.
The Contra Costa hills,^ so marked a feature of the scenery to be
observed from San Francisco, are separated from the main Monte
Diablo Kange, first by the San Bamon, and farther south by Amador val-
ley, and extend from the Straits of Carqiiinez to the southeast about
fifty miles, joining the main range in the vicinity of Mount Hamilton.
They are made up principally of unaltered cretaceous and tertiary
strata^ though a broad belt of the latter forms the mass of the hills.
A belt of highly metamorphic rocks, rarely over two miles in width,
extends from San Pablo to the southeast, a distance of thirty-five
miles, forming the summits of the highest peaks, 1,500 to 2,000 feet in
elevation, in the viciniiy of the pass leading from Oakland to Lafayette.
Near Eedwood Peak this belt branches, one fork continuing to the
southeast, finally unites with the central metamorphic mass of Mount
Hamilton, the other skirting the western slope towards Alameda Canon,
where but traces of metamorphism are to be seen.
The rocks are similar in lithological character to those of Monte
Diablo, and when metamorphosed, to those of known cretaceous strata
near Martinez, on Suisun Bay, which consist largely of jaspery slates,
and are marked by the occurrence of serpentine and the silicious fer-
ruginous rock which occurs throughout the Coast Banges in connection
with cinnabar. Chromic iron also occurs in considerable quantity east
of the town of San Antonio ; and although it has been mined to some
extent, its present distance from a market would preclude the possi-
bility of its being profitably worked.
Unmistakably eruptive rock occurs at points throughout this meta-
morphic belt, though it is often difficult to distinguish between erup-
tive and metamorphic, on accoimt of the high degree of alteration
which both have undergone.
There is but little regularity of strike and dip of the strata forming
the Contra Costa hills ; in their northern part they form a well defined
synclinal axis, as is shown by the section given on page 14 of the
report on Geology of California, and taken between a point on the
road from Martinez to Pacheco, and the Canada del Hambr^, in which
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GEOLOGY. 405
the tertiary sandstones are represented as resting conformablj upon
the cretaceous.
In the San Kamon valley are evidences of very recent disturbances;
fissures in the soil are said to exist which were formed during the
earthquake which occurred in the month of June, 1861.
Near Martinez, and for some distance west, along the shores oi
Suisim Bay and the Straits of Carquinez, cretaceous strata are well ex-
posed, consisting of sandstones and shales, the latter with intercalated
deposits of argillaceous limestone, varying in thickness^ sometimes
attaining a width of three feet or more.
The upper limit of these strata is marked by the occurrence of
sandstones resembling those accompanying the coal beds at Monte
Diablo, which, though containing much carbonaceous matter, do not
present indications of a regular coal bed. They are overlaid by the
tertiary strata, resting conformably upon them, which form the mass of
the Contra Costa hills. In the tertiary strata, near San Pablo, oil has
been obtained by boring, though not in sufficient quantitity to be of
any commercial value. North of San Pablo are low hills made up of
horizontal post-pliocene strata resting imcomformably on the edges of
the tertiary.
THE PENINSULA OF SAN FRANOISOO.
This peninsula is marked by a high mountain range extending from
the Qolden Gate southeast as far as the Bay of Monterey, its connec-
tion with the Gavilan, previously mentioned as a spur of the Monte
Diablo Bange, being broken by the valley of the Pajaro river, which has
its lateral branches draining the interior valleys both north and south.
It is much broken, and cannot properly be called, as it sometimes has
been, the Santa Cruz Bange, though in Santa Cruz coimiy it attains its
greatest elevation and broadest development near Mt. Bache, and other
high peaks in its viciniiy. An almost imbroken front of mountains is
presented towards the ocean, a narrow strip of table land alone inter-
vening. Along the western shore of the Bay of San Francisco, how-
ever, is a considerable belt of level land which widens towards the
south, and joins with the extension of that on the eastern side, forming
the San Jose valley.
The geology of the belt of elevated land between the San Jose val-
ley, the Bay of San Francisco and the ocean, is very similar to that of
the Contra Costa hills, though it is rendered more complicated by the
intrusion of granitic rocks. It is composed of the same cretaceous and
tertiary strata^ containing rocks similar in lithological character to
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406 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNU,
tliose of Monte Diablo, wliich have already been mentioned. Fossils
sparingly occur. A metamorphic belt extends from Redwood City to the
southeast a distance of about forty miles, forming the eastern edge of the
range and the summits of Mi Bache, 3,780 feet in height, and of other
high points. Limestone, in detached masses, occurs at several places
throughout this belt ; evidences of what was once, in all probability, a
continuous limestone belt, are 'found at various places, from the sum-
mit of Black mountain, back of Mountain View, to as far south as the
New Almaden mines, which lie in a ridge jM^rthwest of that formed by
the metamorphic mass of Moimts Bache, Ghoual, and Umtmhum. It is
to be seen on Los Gates creek, dippiiig to the northeast, and is less
altered there than at other places where it is hard and compact, though
not crystalline. To the west of the metamorphic belt above mentioned
is a series of unaltered tertiary strata, forming a broad range of moun-
tains extending northwest through Santa Cruz into San Mateo couniy,
the culminating point of which is Mount Bielawski, 3,269 feet high.
Southwest of this belt of tertiary, and stretching northwest, nearly to
Pescadero creek, is a high range of granite hills, at places attaining an
elevation of 2,900 feet, the relations of which to the adjoining strata
have not been thoroughly investigated. A mass of gold bearing quartz
is said to have been found in this range of granite hUls, and to have
yielded quite largely — ^no well defined veins, however, have been traced,
and the deposits, when they occur, are* not likely to prove of permanent
value.
Beds of miocene tertiary extend along the coast fi'om Santa Cruz to
Spanishtown ; these retain their original position along the shore, but
are disturbed near the granite. The coast is also marked by the occur-
rence of terraces, indicating recent changes of level, which, thou^
broken at intervals, are to be seen throughout the distance from Santa
Cruz to Pescadero. No eruptive rock is known to occur on the penin-
sula north of San Mateo. The range becomes depressed as the Qol-
den Gate is approached, and at the head of the peninsula we have a
mass of comparatively low hills made up of highly broken and con-
torted metamorphic cretaceous strata, without any apparent regularity
of strike and dip. The material of Telegraph, Bussicm and Bincon
hills, sections of which have been well exposed by excavations involved
in grading the streets of the city, is an argillaceous sandstone — in
places highly altered and durable, but generally soft, and disintegrating
rapidly on exposure to air and moisture. Jaspery rock occurs in the
outskirts of the city, and has been employed to a considerable extent
as a ballasting material for roads leading therefrom. A belt of serpen-
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GEOLOGT. 407
tine extends from Fort Point, by Lone Mountain and Mission Dolores,
to the Potrero. The peculiar silicious rock generally associated with
ores of mercury occurs at various points, and in the vicinity of the Mis-
sion some cinnabar has been found. No building stone of value occurs
in the immediate vicinity of San Francisco. On Terba Buena Island, in
the bay, one mile east of the city, the rocks are similar to those of Tel-
egraph Hill, though a highly altered sandstone, having a trappean
appearance is exposed on its eastern side in larger masses, or more
heavily bedded than at the latter localiiy. This, to some extent, has
been excavated and used for foundations of buildings in San Francisco,
and is a good material for concrete intended for sub-aqueous structures;
its extent, however, is very imcertain, and large quantities of softer ma-
terial have to be removed in its excavation. A less metamorphosed
sandstone, often streaked with thin veins of carbonate of lime, is quar-
ried on Angel Island, north of the city.
The miocene tertiary is not represented in the vicinity of San Fran-
cisco, though in the low hills along the sea shore southwest of Merced
Lake, strata belonging to the pliocene and post-pliocene epochs, which
are unconformable with each other, are exposed. These also rest
unconf ormably upon the metamorphic cretaceous.
By far the most interesting and important feature of the range
under consideration, is the occurrence of the extensive deposits of cin-
nabar in the metamorphic cretaceous rocks at the New Almaden mines,
a few miles southwest of San Jos^, and lying in a ridge east of the
main range, culminating in Mount Bache, the highest points of which
are about 1,700 feet above tide water. The three mines — the New
Almaden, Enriquita, and Guadalupe — ^are in line extending over a dis-
tance of about five miles ; the former is by far the most productive.
The cinnabar occurs in altered slates, inclosed by extensive masses of
serpentine. The ore is very irregularly distributed, though the metal
bearing portions seem confined to limited areas dipping with the strata.
This is but one of the numerous localities throughout the Coa&Tt Banges i
where cinnabar is mined, but thus far is the only one that has been
worked with vejy great and continued profit to its owners.
On the western side of the island called Bed Bock, which rises
abruptly from the waters of the bay, about eight miles north of San
Francisco, and attains a height of about 250 feet, there occurs a de-
posit of oxide of manganese (pyrolusite). This island is almost entirely
composed of cretaceous jaspery shales. The ore is found, sometimes
in quite large masses, irregularly distributed throughout a belt over
one hundred feet in width, extending northwest and southeast across
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408 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNU.
the island, a distance of between six and seven hundred feei It is
of excellent quality, containing a high percentage of binoxide, and is
remarkably free from iron, lime, or other materials for which chlorine
gas has an*affinity. The ore is accompanied by a black, flinty gangue-
stone, which is likely to be mistaken by the inexperienced eye for it,
but which is of very much lower speciflp gravity, and is therefore easily
sorted. Over two hundred tons, containing by analysis from carefully
averaged samples over seventy per ceni of binoxide, have been shipped
from this locality to New York, and sold for less than enough to pay
freight and commissions. Although enormous amoimts of bleaching
powder, or chloride of lime, are consumed, nearly the whole of it is
imported from England, its extensive manufacture having been but
recently commenced in the United States. The demand for it in New
York city is therefore exceedingly limited. The price of oxide of man-
ganese in the English market during the past few years has ranged so*
low — extensive deposits having been discovered in Spain, from whence
that market is supplied, as to preclude the probability of the pecuniary
success of its being mined here to any considerable extent The actual
cost of its delivery at Liverpool will probably exceed its value in that
market, or at any rate equal it
The rapid introduction of the chlorination process in California, for
the extraction of fine gold from the auriferous sulphurets, will create a
limited home demand for the article. As an agent for generating
chlorine for bleaching purposes, the paper manufacturing companies
would probably find a considerable saving to result from its use. In
the method at present adopted by them — the employment of bleaching
powder — the lime merely serves as a vehicle of transportation for the
chlorine, which has already been generated by means of oxide of man-
ganese. Other deposits of pyrolusite occur in the metamorphic cre-
taceous rocks, but they are apparently of very limited extent, and not
likely to prove valuable.
NORTH OFTTHE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO.
The valleys included between the Coast Banges north of the Bay
of San Francisco, though numerous, are generally smaller and n9.rrower
than those to the south of it The mountain ranges are but a continu-
ation of those already described, and are made up of rocks of the same
general character — silicious and jaspery rocks predominating, and
serpentine occurring in enormous masses, though volcanic rocks and
materials play a much more important part than in the ranges south of
Suisun bay.
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GEOLOGY. 409
Tamalpals, a conspicnous mountain on the north side of the de-
pression which forms the Golden Gate, rises quite abruptly to an ele-
vation of 2,597 feei Its summits, of which there are three, consist of
metamorphic sandstone, in some places marked by quartz veins having
a banded structure. Heavy masses of serpentine occur on its western
and northern slope. A ridge of this material, nearly 2,000 feet high,
extends several miles to the northwest. A short distance west of the
town of San Bafael^ is a mass of trachyte extending some distance east
and west.
Three quarters of a mile southwest of Petaluma, a belt or dyke of
compact basalt occurs. In places it has a columnar structure, and is
about two hundred yards in width. It has been used to some extent as
a building material at Petaluma; its hardness, and the difficulty of
obtaining stones of large size, render it undesirable for that purpose;
but it makes a durable material for ballasting roads, or a concrete for
submarine construction, this being the most accessible point to the
ciiy of San Francisco, where such material can be obtained in large
quantities. Eruptive rocks also occur at points between Petaluma and
San Bafael, but not as favorably situated for shipment as the basalt
near Budesill's Landing.
Between Tomales bay and Petaluma is a line of marked depression.
In the vicinity of Tomales, the miocene tertiary, undisturbed and rest-
ing conformably upon the cretaceous, is represented. The belt of
granite, which occurs on the west side of the peninsula of San Fran-
cisco, appears at the extremity of Tomales point; at Punta de los Beyes,
which is wholly composed of it, and at Bodega Head, farther north.
Limestone is associated with granite and mica slates at the head of
Tomales bay, and it is probably the continuation of the belt which
traverses Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties.
Mount St Helena, 4,^43 feet high, at the head 'of Napa valley, is,
with the single exception of Mt. Hamilton, the highest summit between
San Carlos to the south and the higher regions to the north. This
mountain seems to have been the source of the volcanic materials, which
are spread over a large area of country to the east and southeast of it.
A belt of eruptive rock extends from the west side of Clear Lake
through to Suisun Bay. Hot springs, which have an extended repu-
tation for their curative qualities, are numerous, especially in the
vicinity of St. Helena, and Clear Lake. North of Si Helena are several
localities where cinnabar has been found and mined to some extent
Perhaps the most important development is in Pope Valley, three
miles northeast of Mt St Helena. The rock, an imperfect serpentine.
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410 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
sandstone in the process of metamorphism, is the same as is nsnallj
associated with the ore. At the Lake mine, abont eighteen miles from
the southern end of Clear Lake, on the Suisnn road, the ore is peculiar,
on account of its association with sulphuret of antimony in acicular
crystals and granular masses, as well as by reason of the absence of
the peculiar silicious rock with which cinnabar is generally found. It
is deposited in lenticular masses in cretaceous shales.
The locality known as the Geysers is half-way between Healdsburg
and the southern end of Olear Lake. The wild scenery, and the
phenomena exhibited by the hot springs occurring there, make it an
attractive and interesting localiiy to visit ; but there exists no analogy
between these and the Geysers of Iceland. The waters hold a variety
of salts in solution, which give rise to numerous chemical reactions
when waters from different sources are brought in contact, and produce
vivid colorations of the rocks. These are chiefly sandstones and sili-
<5iou8 slates, the silica of which is thoroughly leached out by hot alka-
line solutions, and afterwards forms extensive deposits. Considerable
quantities of sulphur are also deposited by the water from these springs,
and the deposit known as the Sulphur bank, in the vicinity, may
prove of future value.
One of the most interesting and curious portions of the Coast
Banges north of the Bay of San Francisco, is that in the neighborhood
of the southern extremity of Clear Lake. It is in this vicinity that
the celebrated and productive deposits of borax, or biborate of soda^
occur beneath the waters of Borax Lake. This is a sheet of shallow
water, the average depth of which is about three feet, comprising gen-
erally about one hundred acres in superficial area, but varying greatly
in size with the seasons, as the shores are low, and their slope towards
the water is very gradual. The water of the lake is impregnated with
borax; analyses of it, made in 1863, show that it contained 2401.56
grains of solid matter to the gallon, about one half of which was com-
mon salt, one quarter carbonate of soda, and the remainder borate of
soda, there being 281.48 grains of anhydrous biborate, equal to 535.08
of crystalized borax to the gallon. A sample taken from the interior
of a coffer dam, from water percolating through the underlying mud,
was found to contain a much larger portion of solid matter, but in the
same proportion as before. The borax being the least soluble of the
prominent ingredients, has crystalized out, and is found in the mud in
crystals of various sizes, from two or three inches across, to those of
microscopic size. That the process is rapid and still going on, is
shown by the coating of crystals formed upon sticks of wood, which
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GEOLOGY. 411
have been immersed in the waters of the lake for bat a short time.
The principal deposit of the crystals is in a layer of blue mud of vary-
ing thickness, beneath which is mud without them.
Northeast from Borax Lake, and about a mile distant from it, on
the borders oi Clear Lake, is an extensive deposit of sulphur, where
solfatara action is yet apparent The volcanic rocks have been exten-
sively fissured, and through the orifices and seams, steam and sulphur-
ous vapors are constantly issuing. A large amount of sulphur has
been deposited, the extent of which is imcertain, and can only be
demonstrated by the pick and shovel, though it occurs over an area of
several acres. The most interesting fact in connection with this de-
posit is the association of cinnabar with the sulphur, sometimes dis-
tinctly separated from it, in quartz evidently deposited from solution,
but often thoroughly intermixed with it.
Another large deposit of sulphur, about two miles distant, occurs
on what is locally known as Chalk Mountain, so caUed from its pecu-
liarly white appearance, and still another at the Sulphur Springs,
further east, on the road to Colusa. At neither of these localities does
the sulphur appear to be contaminated with cinnabar, which marks
the deposit on Clear Lake. At the latter locality, which promises to
be much more extensive than was at first supposed, a good merchant-
able article is being produced, in considerable quantities, by simple
distillation. The rocks at Chalk Mountain are extensively fissured,
and much decomposed, by the action of steam and acid vapor, giving
them a white and' chalky appearance. The deposit here promises to
prove extensive, at least large superficial areas of it exist ; how deep
they will prove, or how large a quantity of sulphur they will yield, is
of course a matter of imcertainty. Springs yielding carbonated water
are numerous in the viciniiy of Chalk Mountain — ^it is often very agree-
able to the taste.
Volcanic materials and hot springs occur on a line from Clear Lake
east towards the Sacramento valley — ^and, as Prof. Whitney remarks,
there is every evidence of a transverse fracture extending from the
Geysers across the volcanic belt, of which Mt. St. Helena is the culmi-
nating point, to the Sacramento valley.
A curious association of gold, cinnabar, and bitumen occurs in
what is known as the Manzanita tunnel, near Sulphur Springs, on the
road from Clear Lake to Colusa. Beds of hydraulic limestone occur
in the cretaceous strata near Benicia ; they occupy a position between
the sandstones and the shales.
The beautifully variegated Snisun marble occurs in the sandstones
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412 THE NATCBAL WEALTH OP CALIFOB^^A.
f
of the Peleyo hills, north of Suisiin. It is the deposit of calcareous
springs, and cannot be obtained in masses of sufficient size to make it
very important as an ornamental stone.
SOUTH OF MONTEBEY BAY.
North of latitude 35^ 20' the trend of the mountaiii chains forming
the Coast Ranges is quite uniformly northwest and southeast, agreeing
very closely with that of the coast north of that parallel. South of this
line, however, we have a very marked change in the direction of the
coast On the north side of Santa Barbara channel it runs nearly east
and west, and near San Luis Obispo we have the northern limit of a
system of upheavals, in a direction transverse to that which has deter-
mined the trend of the main Monte Diablo, and other ranges to the
north.
The Santa Lucia mountains extend from Carmelo bay, near the
town of Monterey, southeast in an unbroken line, bordering the coast
as far as San Luis Obispo, then curving to the east, finally become
merged into the main Monte Diablo Bange. They form a mass of
rugged and unexplored mountains, in places over 5,000 feet in eleva-
tion. The western slope of the range is peculiarly abrupt and inac-
cessible.
The comparatively broad valley of the Salinas river, included
between the Santa Lucia and Gavilan mountains, stretches to the
southeast from the Bay of Monterey, a distance of nearly one hundred
miles. The average breadth of the Santa Lucia range is about eigh-
teen miles. Granite is known to occur throughout the northern twenty
or thirty miles. Metamorphic tertiary rocks, and miocene and pliocene
strata, highly contorted, also occur.
The Polo Scrito hills, between the valley of the Carmelo river and
that of the Salinas, and the San Antonio hills further south, are made
up of the great bituminous slate formation of the tertiary age, which
extends through California as far north as Cape Mendocino ; above
which are more recent formations. Portions of the tertiary are highly
bituminous, and asphaltum is of frequent occurrence. AVell marked
terraces occur on the Salinas and its branches — the San Antonio and
^^3f ascimiento rivers. Near San Luis Obispo the range has a fan-like
structure. Gold has been found in very limited quantities, and, at
various points, copper stains occur; argentiferous galena is also found,
but neither is likely to prove of importance — ^no well defined vein hav-
ing been seen.
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GEOLOGY, 413
The islands on the south side of Santa Barbara channel appear to
belong to the east and west system of upheavals, and are probably of
the same geological age as the Coast Banges. South of San Luis
Obispo is a succession of mountain chains, having an easterly trend.
The Santa Inez Bange commences at Point Concepcion, stretching
east a distance of over one hundred miles, and joins with mountain
ranges south of Fort Tejon. East of Santa Barbara it attains an ele-
vation of about 4000 feet, but to the west it is lower, and at Gaviote
Pass it is about 2,500 feet in height The western end is composed of
unaltered tertiary sandstones of miocene age. There the strata dip to
the south; further east an anticlinal axis is shown, while still further
east all the strata dip to the north.
Near Santa Barbara the sandstone, forming the crest of the chain,
is overlaid by bituminous shales, which, in the foot-hills, are very
much broken and contorted. Upon the bituminous shales, resting
horizontally and unconformably, are pliocene and post pliocene de-
posits. The bituminous shales are the source of considerable quanti-
ties of bituminous material — asphaltum and oil occurring at many
different localities, often filling depressions in superficial deposits; the
latter is sometimes seen oozing from the shales.
Two minor ranges, lying between the Santa Lucia and Santa Inez
chains, are, so far as known, almost wholly made up of tertiary strata
of miocene and pliocene age, attaining a great thickness. More recent
deposits in the valleys rest horizontally upon the edges of the upturned
tertiary. Here also asphaltum and oil are of frequent occurrence.
In the Santa Susana Bange, which is, as far as known, composed
of sandstones of tertiary age, upon which rests the bituminous slate
formation, we have an instance of an enormous fault, which forms the
San Fernando valley. The strata dip to the north, towards the vaUey
of the Santa Clara river; the broken edges are presented to the south,
rising like an immense wall from the plain. That this fault exists, is
proved by the fact that the upper members of the same series of terti-
ary strata sink beneath the plain from the northern slope of the Santa
Monica Bange, further south. The latter terminates in a bold head-
land on the Pacific ; it stretches east from Point Duma a distance of
about forty miles. In this chain is shown a regular anticlinial axis — a
central core of granite, with strata dipping away from it on both sides;
these, consisting of sandstone and bituminous slates of miocene age, are
much altered, more particularly so, however, when they are in contact
with the central mass of granite.
The present geographical and geological knowledge of the southern
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414 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNU.
part of the State is extremely limited. The San Gabriel Range is a
mass of high and ragged mountains extending from the Cajon Pass, on
the east, to the Santa Susana and Santa Monica Banges on the west
They are lai^ely composed of granitic and m'etamorphic rocks. North
of Los Angeles two high points of granite rise to about 6,000 feet At
the base of the mountains tertiary sandstones have been exposed by
erosion ; above them are masses of post tertiary detritus piled up
against the flanks of the range to heights of over 1,000 feet The rocks
occurring in the San Gabriel Canon are highly metamorphic, and prob-
ably belong to the cretaceous period.
East of the San Gabriel Canon, on the southern flank of the range,
are immense masses of tertiary sandstone, highly disturbed, and trav-
ersed by numerous dykes of granite. Both copper and silver ores have
been found in this range. Gold has been mined to some extent — though
with no great profit.
To the south are the Santa Ana and Temescal Banges. The latter
has attracted considerable attention, on account of the discovery of tin
ore about three miles north of the Temescal ranch-house. It is pecu-
liar in appearance, and is probably a mixture of cassiterite (oxide of tin)
and more or less earthy and mineral matter. Explorations have as yet
failed to develop deposits of any material value. The geological age
of the rocks in which it occurs is not known.
As before stated, a perfect topographical union of the Coast Banges
and the Sierra Nevada takes place at the southern end of the Trdare
valley. The lowest pass from the Tulare valley to the Great Basin,
though there is no well marked one, is that taken by following up the
north fork of the Tejon creek and crossing a low ridge into the Ta-
hatchaypah valley. In this route the highest point attained is about
4000 feet
The San Emidio Canon, about twenly miles west of the Canada de
las Uvas, opens into the valley of Kern and Buenavista lakes. Toward
the head of this canon, granite, mica-slate, syenite, hornblende slate,
and limestone are found. An inconsiderable thickness of cretaceous
strata, overlaid conformably by an enormous development of unaltered
tertiary, rests on these. The strata dip to the north at an angle of
about seventy degrees. The belt of tertiary extends east along the
flanks of the mountains, and terminates in a range of lulls northwest of
the Canada de las Uvas. At this canada cretaceous strata also occur ;
they are better shown, however, in the Canada de los Alisos, opening
into the plain about five miles further east At this place the creta^
ceous belt is of greater width, and the strata are well exposed, though
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GEOLOGY. 415
much broken. Above them, along the mai^in of the plain, are beds of
lava, increasing in width and having a northern dip, extending from the
mouth of the Canada de las Uvas to the east and south a considerable
distance. These seem to form a wall of division between the Sierra
and the Coast Ranges. A range of undisturbed tertiary hills stretches
to the northeast along the base of the Sierra Nevada irom the Tejon
Beservation — at the mouth of the Tejon Canon. To the southwest, this
range extends towards, but does not connect with, the hills east of the
San Emidio Canon, in which the strata dip at such a high angle.
In the preceding outline of the geology of the Coast Ranges, it will
be seen that they have all been elevated since the deposition of the ere- v .
taceous. No older formation is known to occur throughout their entire
length. In them every variety of structure is shown. The chains have
been thrown up by forces acting in different directions, which have
determined the trend of the mountain ranges, and of the coast. The
most powerful seem to have been in a northwest and southeast direc-
tion.
It is only along the coast that thick forests occur ; most of the hills
and many of the valleys have scattered trees. The fertility of some of
the valleys is marvellous ; the bordering hills afford abundant pas-
turage.
Of the mineral wealth of the Coast Ranges, there is but little more
to be said. Although gold, and ores of silver, copper and lead occur
at various points throughout their extent, there is but little probability
of their ever being found in quantity or under conditions to make them
commercially valuable. Quicksilver is the great metallic product of
the Coast Ranges, though its ore (cinnabar) occurs in rocks of almost
every age. It is found in the Sierra Nevada, (Mariposa coimty); in
triassic rocks in the southern portion of the State; on the eastern slope
of the Sierra — ^in strata of the same age, probably — and in the tertiary.
Between Clear Lake, on the north, and the New Idria Mine; on the
south, it is found at numerous localities — and it is in the metamorphic
cretaceous alone, that large and valuable deposits seem likely to occur.
Of the non-metallic products, coal, borax and sulphur are the most
important in an economic point of view. Although the former is known
to exist at many different localities it is unlikely that any beds equalling
in value those of Monte Diablo will be opened.
The deposits of chromic iron and manganese may hereafter prove
valuable. Asphaltum exists in immense quantities^ and petroleum has
been obtained to some extent by tunnelling. The disturbed condition
of the tertiary strata in which it occurs, is not favorable for its accumu-
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416 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOENLL
lation in interior cavities or reservoirs, and, up to the present time, the
nomerons attempts to obtain it bj boring have not met with marked
success.
GEOLOGY OF THE 8IERBA NEVADA.
This grand mountain chain, bordering the eastern side of the great
central valley of California, claims especial attention, not only on
accoimt of its magnitude and geological structure and the unsurpassed
grandeur of its scenery, but because of the auriferous belt stretching
along its entire western slope and constituting beyond a doubt the
richest and most extensive gold field in the known world.
To the consideration of the structure of this chain, and of the great
auriferous belt, speaking incidentaUy of some of the more important
mines and mining districts, the remainder of this chapter is chiefly
devoted.
The Sierra Nevada properly includes the San Bernardino mountains
on the south, and stretches thence into southern Oregon on the north.
It is a continuous and lofty chain, marked by a line of dominant peaks,
many of which are over 14,000 feet high. It has an average width of
ninety miles, being in places much wider. As has been stated, its
western slope is more gradual than that of the eastern, which is often
very bold and abrupt On the west it is flanked by a long line of com-
paratively low foothills bordering the Sacramento and San Joaquin val-
leys. The "divide" or water-shed is generally on a line passing east
of the line of culminating peaks mentioned in the remarks introductoiy
to this chapter.
OEOIiOaiOAIi STBTTCTUItB OF THE SIEBBA.
This range of mountains is known to consist of a central core of
granite, flanked by metamorphic slates. In the southern portion
granite is especially predominant, the highest summits and broadest
mass of the chain being composed of that rock. The summits of the
central portion are of metamorphic slates belonging to the eastern flank,
and the culminating points in the northern part of the chain are of vol-
canic rocks. The western flank at an elevation of not over 1,200 feet>
towards the south, and 1,000 towards the north, is marked at intervals^
for a distance of over four himdred miles along the borders of the
Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, by the occurrence of undisturbed
marine tertiary and cretaceous strata. These, though formerly con-
tinuous, are more extensively denuded and washed away in the central
portion, than towards either end of the valley, where they are unbroken
for long distances. South of the parallel of Sacramento the tertiaiy
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GEOLOGY. 417
strata^ containing generally imperfect fossils, are extensively developed;
further north, cretaceous, with superimposed tertiary strata capped
with volcanic outflows, are found resting horizontally upon the edges of
the upturned auriferous slates. In the undisturbed position of these
strata, as opposed to the extensive disturbances shown to have taken
place in strata of the same age on the western side of the valley, we
have the basis of Prof. Whitney's distinction between the Sierra Nevada
and Coast Ranges ; the State Geologist, considering all those chains
or ridges of mountains as belonging to the Coast Ranges, which have
been uplifted since the deposition of the cretaceous formation, while
those, which were elevated before the epoch of the cretaceous, are reck-
oned as belonging to the Sierra Nevada,
The tertiary beds which occur at a level of not over twelve hundred
feet, and which are never worked for gold, are not to be confounded
with the detrital deposits found high up on the flanks of the Sierra,
which are of fresh water origin and form the great auriferous gravel
beds of California. Soft tertiary sandstones are found all the way from
White to Kern rivers, forming rounded hills from two to six hundred
feet in elevation. From White river to King's river they are wanting,
but from King's river as far north as the Stanislaus these hills recur,
rising from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet above the plain.
Cretaceous strata occur near Folsom, and at many points further
north, being abundantly supplied with well preserved fossils. Between
Feather and Pitt rivers, in the northern portion of the Sacramento
valley, is an extensive belt of cretaceous strata. Vast outflows of vol-
canic materials prevent, however, the underlying strata from being
seen, except where the streams have cut them and exposed the sedi-»
mentary deposits beneath. In the cretaceous strata between Cow and
Clover creeks a workable bed of coal is reported to exist. It will,
however, undoubtedly prove of but little economical value.
The region south of Cow creek is marked by the extensive deposit
of volcanic materials. Lassen's Peak, and a large number of smaller
extinct volcanoes between it and the Sacramento river, have been the
sources of volcanic ashes, scoriao, and basaltic lava, which cover an
area of seventy-five hundred square miles, lying between Pitt river and
Oroville. The lava seems to have flown in sheets over the surface,
and, between Fort Reading and Red Blufi*, extends with a gentle slope
westward to the Sacramento river. That the streams have in places
cut entirely through the volcanic cappings, and into the cretaceous
strata beneath, is indicated by the occurrence of fossils of that age in
boulders found in the canons and gulches.
27
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418 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
Near Oroville, at Pence's ranch^ the relation of the newer forma-
tions to the auriferous slates is finely displayed. The cretaceous strata,
with a low dip to the southwest, rest upon the edges of the upturned
auriferous slates ; upon the former lie tertiary strata, probably imcon-
formably, though the disturbances have been slight, and these in turn
are covered with tables of basaltic lava resting conformably upon them.
THE OBEAT AUmFEBOUS BELT.
Although auriferous rocks are not confined to the western slope of
the Sierra Nevada, yet it is from the deposits and veins there found
that almost the entire gold product of the State has been derived.
The belt may be said to* extend from Fort Tejon, northeast along this
slope of the Sierra, into Oregon. The gold bearing belt of metamor-
phic slates within those limits varies greatly in width and richness.
Towards its southern portion it is but feebly represented, but it widens
out as it extends north. In the northern portion of the State it is
almost entirely covered with vast deposits of volcanic materials, and
in many places rendered inaccessible to the miner. It is the central
portion of this belt that forms the great gold mining region of the
State — embraced in the western portions of Mariposa, Tuolumne, Cal-
averas, Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Nevada, Sierra, and Plumas, and
the eastern part of Tuba and Butte counties.
In the northwestern part of the State the auriferous slates are also
exposed, but granitic rocks are there more extensively developed than
in the central portion of the gold field, and the conditions for the for-
mation of rich and extensive deposits have not been as favorable as
elsewhere ; hence, in speaking of the main gold field, that portion of
the State may be considered as of comparatively little importance.
80T7THEBN FOBTION OP THE OOIiD FIELD.
Between Mariposa county and Fort Tejon the granitic rocks of the
Sierra descend lower down upon its flanks than further north, and the
slates do not occupy a continuous belt, but occur in patches in the
granite — although gold is found throughout the entire distance, and
some rich placers have been worked at intermediate points, the veins of
this portion must be considered as of inferior importance to those
which are found in the broad and continuous belt of metamorphic slates
extending to the northwest Placer mines are worked to a limited ex-
tent in the Tehatchaypah valley, and in Walker's Basin. Near Kern
river, are some promising quartz veins in granite, some of which have
been worked with large profit. Arsenical pyrites occurs abundantly in
these veins in the lower workings, causing trouble in milling the ores.
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GEOLOGY. 419
MABIPOSA COUNTY.
It was on the Mariposa estate, in this county, that some of the earlier
quartz mining operations in California were undertaken. The western
portion of the county is the more important, as being that traversed
by the auriferous slate belt, in which are sitimted well known and
extensively worked quartz mines. The eastern part is remarkable for
the bold grandeur of its scenery, and contains several of the more lofty
peaks of the Sierra. In this county is also located the famous Tosemite
valley, elsewhere in this volume so fully described, that only a few con-
sideratioiis as to the cause of its origin will here be introduced. The
volcanic accumulations being less extensive in. this than along the gold
belt in the more northern counties, no extensive hydraulic washings
are carried on here — ^in fact, the yield of the placer mines in this
county has been so much diminished that they may now be considered
unimportani
The Fremont Grant, now better known as the Mariposa estate, hav-
ing from the first figured largely in the history of this county, still
constitutes one of its prominent features. This estate embraces an
area of about seventy square miles, extending from the Merced river,
southeast, a distance of sixteen miles. It is traversed by a belt of
metamorphic slates, with belts of generally highly metamorphosed sand-
stone on either side. Beyond the sandstone are slates again; serpen-
tine and limestone occur in patches. Towards the southern end the
metamorphism seems to have been greater, and granite cuts across the
slate belt and continues westward towards the foot-hills. This belt is
marked by the occurrence of numerous quartz veins which generally
strike in a direction parallel to the trend of the inclosing strata, and dip
with them. Veins in the granite to the south have the same general
trend, a few degrees west of north.
There are several groups of mines within the limits of the estate.
The Pine Tree and Josephine are located a mile and a half from the
Merced river, and within a short distance of each other. They are
generally considered to be on the same vein, though never having been
connected, it is uncertain. They are remarkable for their enormous
width of veinstone, which varies from twelve to foriy feet, and in the
latter averages twenty feet.
Six miles southeast of the Pine Tree and Josephine is another
group of mines, of which the Princeton is the most important. This
has in former years proved one of the most productive quartz veins of
California. The trend and dip of the vein are the same as those of the
inclosing strata. It varies in width, from a few inches to eight feet.
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420 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNLL
Its course is marked by many flexures. The inclosing rock is a dark
colored, fine grained, argillaceous shale. The mine has furnished
specimens of crystaline gold, having brilliant faces of rare and un-
equalled beauty. Iron pyrites, blende and galena occur in greater
quantities here than at the Pine Tree and Josephine mines.
Mines Elsewhere in (lie County, — Heavy outcrops of quartz occur
near Coulterville. A few miles northwest of the town is a massive
outcrop known as the Penon Blanco (white rock). Here the quartz
mine, known as McAlpine's lode, has been extensively, and, it is said,
profitably worked. The outcrop is generally considered to be a
continuation of those which mark the position of the Pine Tree and
Josephine veins. Outcrops of quartz occur along a northwest and south-
east line, for a distance of seventy miles from the mines on the Mari-
posa estate, extending as far north as Jackson, in Amador county.
It is equally certain that the principal quartz veins and the most
extensive placer mines in the counties of Mariposa, Tuolumne, Cala-
veras, and Amador, are nearly in the line of this succession of out-
crops. An interesting quartz vein a few inches thick, containing crys-
talline cinnabar, occurs in the metamorphic slates, on the Merced
river, near Horseshoe Bend.
TUOLUMinS COtTNTT,
The eastern portion of this county lies in the high regions of the
Sierra, and is underlaid by granite. In the western part of the county
the auriferous slate belt attains a width of about twenty-five miles.
The metamorphic rocks are marked by very different lithological char-
acters— the slates are silicious and argillaceous, rather than talcose.
Sandstones are so highly metamorphosed as to have a trappean char-
acter, making it often difficult to distinguish between eruptive and
metamorphic rocks.
Limestone occurs at various localities in Tuolumne county. It is
generally crystalline, of a bluish gray color, though where most highly
altered it is white. It is quarried extensively near Columbia, and
affords a good material for building purposes, monuments, etc. The
mining region in this county is very extensive, and contains not only
numerous quartz mines, but large areas of deep deposits of auriferous
gravel, covered by sheets of basaltic lava, which have flown down the
western slopes of the Sierra, filling and closing the channels of former
rivers, directing their courses, and remodeling the topography of the
entire region. The detrital deposits of this county have furnished
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GEOLOGY. 421
more fossil remams of large animals than the same formations in any \l
other part of the State.
Tabu Mountain, — In this county is, perhaps, the most striking
example of the flat, table-like masses of basaltic lava capping the aurif-
erous detrital deposits, and brought out into bold relief by the erosion
of the softer materials on both sides of them. The well known Table
motmtain of Tuolumne county is a vast lava flow from the lofty volcanic
region beyond the Big Trees of Calaveras. It forms a nearly unbroken
ridge on the north side of the Stanislaus, two thousand feet or more
above the river. Its upper surface is nearly level, but the edges and
the surrounding country have been denuded to an enormous depth by
forces which its superior hardness enabled it to resisi The Stanislaus
river now runs at a depth of two thousand feet below, and could not
have existed at the time of the volcanic outflow, which must have
sought the lowest channels. That this was the case, and that where
the Stanislaus now runs there was a mass of mountains, is not a mere
matter of speculation, for this lava flow is seen to have crossed the
present valley of the Stanislaus at Abbey's Ferry, and must have
followed the course of an ancient channel. It follows, that since the
ancient valley was thus filled with the volcanic mass, that an amount
of denudation, not less than three or four thousand feet, has taken
place within the most recent geological epoch.
This is one of the many examples supplied along this belt of the
results of extensive lava outflows from the higher portions of the Sierra.
They are not confined to this county, being a marked feature in the
mining counties north of Tuolumne, particularly Nevada and Sierra.
This whole region has been remodeled, and where are now deep canons
and gorges there were formerly hills, which determined the course of
the streams of molten lava. We thus have, on the western flank of
the Sierra, an ancient as well as a present river system. If further evi-
dence of this fact were wanting, it is furnished in the character of the
detrital deposits, and the surfaces of the rocks, in the ancient channels,
which, lying beneath the lava, and the accmnulations of volcanic
material, have been largely developed in the system of tunnel mining
now extensively prosecuted in all the leading mining districts of the
State.
Fossil Bemains.—As before stated, these ancient deposits are of ter-
tiary age — they have been referred to the pliocene epoch. Since the
time of their deposition, and the period of that intense activity that
followed, enormous denudation has taken place and continued to the
present time, resulting in the formation of new and shallower deposits
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422 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
from the disintegration of the old. In this superficial detritns the
works of man are found so closely associated with the bones of the
mastodon and elephant, that the conviction necessarily follows that he
existed previous to the disappearance of these animals from a region in
which they were no doubt numerous. These, as well as discoveries of
like nature made in Europe, prove the human race to be of much
greater antiquity than is generally supposed. The remains of the
mastodon and elephant have not been found in the deposits beneath the
lava, but the bones and teeth of animals, and pieces of silicified wood,
are common in these older auriferous gravels; impressions of leaves in
the clay beneath the giavel are also found. Of the animals peculiar to
the deposits beneath the lava there are the rhinoceros^ an extinct
species of horse, and also a species allied to the camel.
Six miles east of Sonora, in the neighborhood of Soulsbyville, are
other volcanic deposits originating in the high Sierra, Near Soulsby-
ville, lava> fifty feet in thickness, rests upon a stratum of volcanic ash
and pumice stone, deposited in a stratified form. These deposits con-
tain the bones and teeth of animals similar to those found beneath the
lava of Table Mountain.
Gold Mining. — Nearly the whole region between Eincaid Flat and
as far north as the Stanislaus river has been worked, proving one of
the most productive placer mining districts in the State. The surface
of the limestone, with its deep crevices, has acted favorably in the
retention of the gold.
Many quartz veins have been and are still being extensively and
profitably developed in Tuolumne county ; several of those heretofore
worked having yielded very lai^e returns. At the present time the
business is being prosecuted in a number of districts with satisfactory
results. The great "mother vein," so termed, appears in an outcrop
near Jamestown, forming the eminences known as "Whisky Hill, Pov-
erty Hill, and Quartz Hill. It is of very large, though of variable
dimensions, and, while barren in many places, has paid at least mod-
erately well in others, the above localities having been the scenes of
extended and tolerably successful mining and milling operations.
CAIiAVEBAS COUNTY.
The belt of auriferous metamorphic rocks continues on through the
central portion of Calaveras county, its width remaining about the
same as in Tuolumne. The southwestern portion of the former is
rarely covered except by superficial detritus ; but the northeastern, in
the neighborhood of the junction of the slates and the granite, is
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GEOLOGY. 423
marked by the occurrence of gravel deposits, covered by volcanic out-
flows, similar to those in Tuolumne county.
Union Copper Mine, — The western portion of the belt includes the
celebrated Union Copper Mine, a few years since largely and profit-
ably worked, though but little has been done upon it for the past
two years, owing to the low price of copper ore, and to lawsuits pend-
ing against the present owners. The ore is not found in a regu-
lar fissure vein, but lies apparently in independent lenticular masses.
Large shipments were made from this mine for several years after it
was first opened. The ore is the yellow sulphuret, (chalcopyrite), with
a mixture of iron pyrites. The inclosing rocks of this deposit are
chiefly chlorite and chloritic slates. Serpentine, presenting indications
of copper, occur west of Copperopolis, apparently trending with the
formation. '
GiM Mining. — ^The great quartz vein of California passes to the
east of these copper deposits. It appears at Carson Hill, at Albany
Hill, at Angels, and both south and north of San Andreas. It has
been extensively worked at various points, the mines of Carson Hill
alone having furnished four million dollars of gold. From the Morgan
claim over two million dollars are said to have been taken from a small
space. The slates adjoining the vein have proved very rich, paying as
much as eighty dollars to the ton. The placers in this vicinity were
also formerly very prolific. The gold, however, is here so irregularly
distributed in the quartz veins as to have rendered the business of
mimiig for it very fluctuating and hazardous. The Stanislaus mine,
near Santa Cruz Hill, in the vicinity of Bobinson's Ferry, has fur-
nished remarkable specimens of auriferous rock, in which, associated
with tlie gold, are the rare tellurides of silver and gold, in larger quan-
tity than they have been found elsewhere in the State.
The placer and hydraulic mines of Calaveras county are extensive,
and have generally proved fairly and often highly remimerative. Vol-
canic deposits are widely diffused over the northeastern section of the
county. Limestone, deeply eroded on the surface, occurs towards the
eastern portion of the gold bearing belt.
An exposure on the road from the Stanislaus river to Murphy's
shows a thickness of five hundred feet of volcanic and sedimentary
material resting on the limestone. The upper portion, over one hun-
dred feet in thickness, is basaltic lava, resting upon a series of beds
of sand, clay and volcanic ashes containing boulders of quartz. The
surface of this limestone, in the vicinity of Murphy's, has been con-
siderably worked for placer gold ; imbedded in it are veins of quartz,
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424 THE KATCBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBNIA.
some of which have also been mined. A vein occorring in it contains
not only gold, but cinnabar in small quantity, together with vitreous
copper, and some blue and green carbonate of copper. A second
instance of the occurrence of cinnabar in the rocks of the Sierra.
AMAI>OB COUNTT.
The main gold bearing belt passes through the central portion of
Amador county, but is much narrower here than in Calaveras^ being
only about twelve miles wide. Towards the eastern border of the slates
we have a continuation of the limestone of Tuolumne and Calaveras.
In placer mining, once active here, but little is now being done. Along
the line of the main belt there are a number of prominent mines, fore-
most amongst which is the Hayward or Amador claim, consisting of
the Eureka and Badger lodes. The cost of stamping and milling
quartz at one of the mills of this company, where water is plenty, is
stated to be sixty-six cents per ton; less, perhaps^ than at any other mill
in the State.
At Volcano we have the same limestone formation, with small veins
of quartz imbedded in it Here, also, the detrital mass is thick, and
has been profitably washed in many places. In one of the beds in this
vicinity, a distinctly marked quartz vein occurs in the gravel, showing
how recently veins have been formed.
On the Cosumnes and Mokelumne rivers fine sections of the sedi-
mentary, with superimposed lava deposits, are exhibited.
In the tertiary foot-hills bordering the Sacramento valley, coal has
been found, but too limited in quantity and of too poor a quality to be
of any other than mere local value.
EL DORADO COUNTY.
The geological features of this county are similar to those of Ama-
dor, but the volcanic formations are not so extensively developed as
in the latter. There are some detrital deposits here still worked by
the process of hydraulic washing. The belt of auriferous rocks occu-
pies a great breadth here, it being nearly thirty miles broad, in a direc-
tion at right angles to the trend of the slates, which largely predominate.
Some portions of these are of triassic age, a determination based, in
part, upon the resemblance of the impressions fotmd in the slates to
the fossils from known triassic rocks occuring at Washoe, and in the
Humboldt mining region, in the State of Nevada. Quite a number
of fossils of unquestionably triassic age have been found by members
of the State Geological Survey, in Plumas county, farther north.
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GEOLOGY. 425
PliACEB COUNTY.
The volcanic deposits occupy a large area in the lower part of this
county, rendering the working of quartz subordinate to hydraulic and
tunnel minuig.
The metamorphic belt is in great part covered by volcanic mate-
rials. From near Auburn to the Sacramento plain, granite is the under-
lying rock. In this several quarries have been opened, furnishing a
superior building material. Iron ore (hematite) occurs in considerable
quantity a few miles from Auburn, and under as favorable conditions,
as regards extent and location, as at any other point in the auriferous
slate series. The north and Middle Forks of the American river flow
through deep gorges or narrow canons, which they have eroded in the
volcanic outflows, cutting deep below them into the slates, of which
they afford fine exposures.
The towns of Iowa Hill, "Wisconsin Hill, and Todd's Valley, mark
an important line of hydraulic mines, extending across this county.
In places the detrital beds have a thickness of more than five hundred
feet, the "cement," or coarse compacted gravel below, often being one
hundred feet in depth. On the Middle Fork of the American, the
detrital beds reach to the summits bordering the canon ; at Sarahsville,
near which place is an immense mass of serpentine, they recede
towards the north. These deposits are covered by beds of sedimentary
volcanic materials capped by basaltic lava, which forms the summit of
the ridge between the North and Middle Forks of the American river.
This ridge is cut by deep caiions or gorges, in one instance two thou-
sand feet in depth, with sides sloping at as high an angle as forty-five
degrees. The auriferous slates beneath are sometimes eroded to a
depth of fifteen hundred feet, and peculiar facilities are thus afforded
for the study of their structure.
It was in this vicinity that Prof. Whitney observed the very inter-
esting fact, illustrative of the probable fan-like structure of the strata
flanking the central portion of the Sierra. These usually show an
easterly dip, towards the chain ; in these deep vertical sections, it was
noticed that the upper one thousand or twelve hundred feet had the
normal dip to the east, but below this there was a gradual curve, and
at the bottom the dip was to the west, as if the upper portion of the
strata had been forced back by immense pressure from above — a vari-
ety of structure, of which there are many examples in the Alps, and
which, for a long time, perplexed European geologists.
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426 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORKIA.
KEyAi>A coumnr.
The auriferous belt in this county is wide, and includes extended
areas of granite, one of which passes but a little to the east of Grass
Valley. The limestone belt may also be traced through the southwest-
em part of the county. It is exposed at a place called Lime-kiln, ten
miles south of Grass Valley, and is in line with the fossiliferous lime-
stone at Pence's ranch, known to be of carboniferous age.
As we proceed northward on the auriferous belt, the strike of the
strata becomes more nearly north and south, the system of northwest
and southeast trends gives out, and we find a preparation for the north
and south lines of upheaval, which characterize the motmtain chains
of western Nevada and northeastern California. The rocks retain,
however, the same marked easterly dip, and toward the lower side of
the belt the inclination seems to be greater than it is further easi
Grass Valley is justly celebrated as being the principal quartz min-
ing center of California, the business having been commenced here at
an early day, since which it has been prosecuted with many vicissitudes,
but generally with marked success. The veins here, though numerous,
are not generally large ; their richness^ however, compensates for
their want of size. Their average width is perhaps two feet, while
some, that have proved extremely productive, have not averaged above
a foot or eighteen inches. They are for the most part highly mineral-
ized, and have evidently been formed by aqueous action. They
abound in the sulphurets of iron, copper and lead, and occasionally
zinc ; arsenical pyrites also sometimes occur, as for instance in the
Norambagua mine, and on Heuston Hill. The gold is generally
associated with the sulphurets, though it is found sometimes in beauti-
fully crystalline masses in pure quartz ; it is irregularly distributed
throughout the veinstone, which is often barren, but frequently very
rich. The rocks in the vicinity of Grass Valley are so highly metamor-
phosed as to obliterate all traces of stratification; and it is, therefore,
impossible to state the true position of the veins with reference to
them. The most productive vein has been that upon Massachusetts
and Gold hills. In working seventy thousand tons of rock from this
mine, the average yield of gold was over eighty dollars per ton. The
sulphurets occurring in the Grass Valley mining district are generally
rich in gold. In quantity they usually do not exceed more than one or
two per cent, of the mass of ore ; though in some. mines they are more
abundant. They are now carefully collected and worked by Platt-
^ler's chlorination process, by which over ninety per cent of their
entire contents in gold is saved. The experience gained at this place^
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GEOLOGY. 427
as well as in working other quartz lodes elsewhere in California, some
of which have been developed to great depths, teuds to disprove the
theory that the yield of gold diminishes in the ratio of the depth
attained.
Prof. B. Silliman, in speaking of the Eureka mine, near Grass Val-
ley, observes that from the date of its location, February 7th, 1851, to
the close of 1858, it proved only a source of expense; and its history is
instructive, as suggesting that shallow surface exploration, in gold min-
ing may be as unsatisfactory as they are known to be in other mining
enterprises. So late as 1858 five thousand tons of quartz, taken above
the drain level, or thirty feet from the surface, yielded in the mill less
than ten dollars per ton gold — not returning expenses. A shaft sunk
to a depth of about fifty feet aflforded quartz, however, which yielded
fifteen dollars per ton, and the amount of gold rapidly increased to
twenty-eight dollars per ton at one hundred feet. Between the one
hundred and the two hundred feet levels the average yield was about
thirty-seven dollars per ton, and between the two hundred and three
hundred feet levels the average has been about fifty dollars per ton,
rising to sixty-four dollars in the last months of 1866.
There are in fact two distinct veins in the Eureka mine, separated
from each other by a mass of greenstone, or metamorphic sandstone,
about twenty-eight or thirty feet in thickness. The smaller of these
veins is on the south, and has not been explored, but is well defined
at a point where the shaft and cross cuts have exposed it. The green-
stone forms the hanging wall of the main vein, and is particularly reg-
ular and smooth, in some places beautifully polished. The foot wall
consists in some parts of soft serpentine. It may be interesting to
analyze a little more in detail the returns of this mine, as illustrating
a point already alluded to, viz : its progressive increase of gold with
increase of depth. From October, 1865, to December 31, 1865, the
quantity of quartz crushed was twenty-four hundred and forty-five tons,
yielding an average of thirty-three dollars and eighty-seven cents per
ton, and costing to mine and reduce thirteen dollars and fifty-one cents.
From January 1st to June 1st, 1866, the crushing was forty-seven hun-
dred and three tons, averaging forty-six dollars and sixty-eight cents
per ton, at a cost of twelve dollars and fifiy-two cents per ton. From
June 1st to September 30th, 1866, the amount of quartz crushed was
forty-two hundred and twenty-seven and three-fourths tons, giving an
average yield of sixty dollars and thirty-three cents per ton, at a cost
of fifteen dollars and seventy-eight cents per ton. For the whole year
ending September 30th, 1866, the total crushing was eleven thousand
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428 THE NATUKAL WEALTH OF CAUFORNIA.
three hundred and seventy-five and three-fourths tons, yielding a gen-
eral average per ton of forty-five dollars and eighty-three cents, at a
mean cost per ton of thirteen dollars and seventy-five cents. The total
product of bullion from this mine for the year ending September
30th, 1867, was $585,000— average yield of the ore having been $48
per ton.
Nevada city is another important quartz mining locality in this
county. Nevada county also claims special attention, on account of
some of the most extensive hydraulic washings to bo fotmd in the State.
The great ancient river channel of Sierra coimty, known throughout
California as the Blue Lead, enters this county on the north, at Snow
Point, and probably continues across it, connecting with the detrital
deposits at Red Dog, and thence through Placer county to Todd's Val-
ley. Though it is impossible to reconstruct the ancient river system in
the absence of more full and perfect data, enough is known to establish
the fact that their course was approximately at right angles to that of
the present streams.
In the hydraulic washings at Red Dog, great numbers of trunks of
i trees have been uncovered in the operations of mining ; they are silici-
i fied, and are shown to have been subjected to the force of violent cur-
rents before they were covered by the thick detrital deposits. In the
finer sedimentary layers, impressions of leaves are found, but animal
remains occur less frequently than in similar deposits in the more
southern counties. Auriferous gravel deposits, beneath volcanic for-
mations, have been worked in the vicinity of both Nevada City and
Grass Valley. At the former place, above the lower twenty feet con-
stituting the pay gravel, is a bed of lignite, with much iron pyrites
resulting from the reducing action of decaying vegetable matter.
Between French Corral and San Juan, along the Middle Tuba
river, is a belt of hydraulic washings famous for their productiveness ;
this is about one thousand feet wide, and towards its eastern end the
bottom of the deposits is at an elevation of at least one thousand feet
above the river, which has cut its channel since their deposition. The
lower portion of these detrital deposits, which consist of pebbles and
boulders of quartz, granite, and the metamorphic rocks of the Sierra,
firmly compacted and cemented together, is often of a bluish color,
contrasting with the brownish yellow of the upper portion, due to oxi-
dation of iron. This deposit appears to be the continuation of a known
ancient river channel, traversing the entire western portion of Sierra
county, and running parallel with the famous Blue Lead already men-
tioned.
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GEOLOGY. 429
HI KBRA COmrET.
This county lies wholly in the high portions of the Sierra north of
Nevada county. The lowest point in it, where the north Tuba river
cuts its western boundary, is over two thousand feet above the sea.
The auriferous slates are exposed in its western portion, though they
are generally covered by accumulations of volcanic origin, consisting
largely of breccia, or volcanic conglomerate. Some of tlie summits,
formed by basaltic lava capping the slates, are estimated to be over
eight thousand feet in height, and in this county form the crest of the
Sierra Nevada mountains. The slates exposed in the numerous deep
caiions, with which the county is furrowed, are seen to inclose large
masses of serpentine and talcose slate ; they also include many prom-
ismg quartz veins.
Within five hundred feet of the summit of the Downieville Buttes,
or, as they are sometimes called, the Sierra Buttes, at an elevation of
eight thousand feet, are the quartz mines belonging to the Sierra Buttes
and Independence Mioing companies. Here, an immense vein, from
six to thirty feet in width, cuts across the ravines and gulches from
east to west, dipping at an angle of forty-two degrees to the north,
a more detailed description of which is given in the chapter on the
subject of "Mines and Mining," to be found in another part of this
volume.
Sierra county, as before remarked, is almost wholly covered by
beds of volcanic origin, cut in numerous places by the streams which
liave eroded their channels to an immense depth in the underlying
slates. The auriferous gravel deposits of this county are probably
more extensive than are to be found elsewhere in the State. The
famous Blue Lead, or ancient river channel, has been traced from
Sebastopol, in the northern part of the county, south, crossing the
course of the present streams nearly at right angles, to Snow Point,
in Nevada county, its course being marked by a long line of tunnel
claims and mining camps.
The phenomena exhibited here do not differ materially from those
presented in Table Mountain, Toulumne county. A map of Sierra
county, prepared by Messrs. Grossman & Cochran, the former of whom
has had peculiar advantages in the study of the ancient river system of
this county, represents four of the ancient river channels as having a
generally northerly and southerly course, and crossed by the present
streams, instead of running parallel to them, as is the case in Tuol-
umne county. The valley of Table Mountain river is shown to have
been filled with one volcanic outflow or stream, but in Sierra county
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430 TTHE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNLL
there are evidences of a series of numerous and complicated volcanic
phenomena.
The deposits in this county, though they have been extensively
worked, may be considered as almost intact, when the probable amount
of gold they will yet furnish is contemplated. It is probable that the
volcanic formations predominate east of the Sierra in this county — the
valleys most likely containing extensive fresh water tertiary deposits.
Coal has often been reported, but is probably nothing more than lignite,
in limited quality, such as occurs at many points east of the Sierra.
PLXTKAS COUNTT.
The auriferous slates are grandly exposed in the central portions of
this county. The volcanic outflows from Lassen's Peak on the north,
and Pilot Peak on the south, and the volcanic crest of the Sierra, cover
the larger portion of it. The upper part of Genesee valley is marked
by the occurrence of granitic rocks, the lower by metamorphic slates.
In a metamorphic sandstone, exposed in a canon connecting Indian
and Genesee valleys, Messrs. Brewer and King, of the geological survey,
found fossils which were considered by Mr. Meek, the distinguished
paleontologist, as almost certainly of Jurassic age. The locality is about
four miles below Gifford's ranch, and near what is called Mormon Station.
Adjacent to this locality, a belt of highly crystalline limestone, contain-
ing a few obscure fossils, occurs at the junction of the metamorphic
rocks and the granite ; it is probably of carboniferous age. Triassic
fossils were also found at another place in the calcareous slates, between
the limestone belt and the granite.
The discovery of triassic and Jurassic fossils in the rocks of Gen-
esee vaUey, and the subsequent discovery of belemnites in the slates,
on the Mariposa estate, indicating a formation later than the trias, and
their stratigraphical position, led to the announcement in the Journal
of Science, September, 1864 by Prof. Whitney, of the fact, that a large
portion of the auriferous rocks of California consist of metamorphic
triassic and Jurassic strata.
This was followed by an independent announcement by Mr. W. P.
Blake to the California Academy of Sciences, in October of the same
year, of the probable Jurassic or cretaceous age of the gold bearing
slates of California, founded upon the indentification of a group of
secondary fossils from the slates contiguous to the Pine Tree vein on
the Mariposa estate.
Previously, the occurrence of gold was considered as a marked indi-
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GEOLOaY. 431
cation of silurian or palaBOzoic rocks, though the earliest labors of the
survey tended to the conclusion that such was not the case.
Since the discoveries made in Mariposa county, the belt of Jurassic
rocks has been traced as far north as the Stanislaus river, fossils
having been found at several intermediate points ; and enough is now
known to establish the fact, that the great metamorphic belt flanking
the Sierra, is made up of triassic and Jurassic strata, with a compara-
tively small development of carboniferous limestone ; and that the
occurrence of gold in paying quantities in California seems to be con-
fined to strata of these ages.
Lassen's Peak, at the extreme northwest comer of Plumas county,
consists of an imperfect flattened cone of volcanic ashes and d^ris,
through which project sharp ridges of trachyte, rising to a height of
two thousand feet from a gently sloping plateau of gray lava. No
crater remains on the summit, but they are to be seen on the tops of
numerous smaller cones rising from the volcanic tables in the viciniiy.
Traces of glacial action are to be found on all sides of this peak, be-
tween points six and nine thousand feet in elevation. Glaciers have
covered its slopes and descended towards the head-waters of the
streams, the canons of which now afford such stupendous examples of
denudation, they being in places more than three thousand feet deep.
The northeastern portion of the State, as already remarked, is
largely covered by lava — one almost continuous area of nearly ten
thousand square miles being thus overlaid.
Mi Shasta is an enormous volcanic mass, and forms one of the
grandest objects of California scenery. It is a symetrical cone, with
steep slopes, and sharp summit, rising to an altitude of 14,442 feet.
The upper six thousand feet are covered with perpetual snow. It was
for a time supposed that this was the highest summit in California^
but the explorations of the State Geological Survey, in the regions of
the high Sierra, between the parallels of 35^ and 39^ have demon-
strated the fact that there are other peaks yet higher.
In the northern counties the auriferous rocks are similar in their
lithological characters to those of the metamorphic belt passing
through the principal mining counties already described. No fossils
have been found within the State north of 41*^. The series expands
to the westward, and north of the Klamath river, extending quite to
the coasi
In the counties north of the great valley placer mines have been
worked, and furnished in the aggregate a large amount of gold ; quartz
veins have also been developed here to some extent The country is
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432 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
exceedingly rough, and as yet but thinly settled, much of it not being
thoroughly explored. Mountains ranging from six to eight thousand
feet in height are not uncommon in this region. The higher summits
west of the Sacramento river are granitic, while those to the east are
of volcanic origin. To the State Geological Survey we are indebted
for full descriptions and accurate measurements of several high peaks
situated in the Sierra Nevada range, between 35^^ and 39^, though the
number and great altitude of these summits had been previously noted.
The culminating point, Mount Whitney, near latitude 36^^ 30', is
about 15,000 feet high, while within a radius of thirty miles are numer-
ous peaks rising 14,000 feet and over. These are all granite, which
here forms the mass of the chain, eighty miles or more in width. We
have in this portion of the range by far the grandest mountain scenery
to be found in the State. Cafions from three to six thousand feet deep
are not uncommon in this region. Above an altitude of 4,000 feet evi-
dences of previously existing glaciers on an enormous scrle are to be
seen, in the frequent occurrence of large areas of polished rocks, and of
moraines. Smooth surfaces are especially frequent at heights varying
from 6,000 to 11,000 feci To an elevation of 9,000 feet the slopes are
covered with forests of heavy timber. Above that altitude, and to a
height of 10,000 or 11,000 feet, the stunted growth of alpine species is
found; while below, four thousand feet, we have the scattered forests of
oak and pine, and the dry foot-hills that border the great San Joaquin
valley.
The Yosemite valley lies in the granitic part of the chain. Ice and
water have, no doubt, been the chief agents in the formation of this
wonderfully grand and singular gorge ; though it is highly probable
that other causes may have operated with these to impress upon it its
peculiar configuration.
The high peaks near Mono Lake are of metamorphic slates belong-
ing to the eastern flank, and are marked by more rounded outlines than
the granite summits further south. Mount Dana and Castle Peak are
each about 13,000 feet in elevation — the summit of the former being
readily accessible.
The water from the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, north of
35^, as far as the Oregon line, flows into closed valleys, or basins with-
out outlets to the sea. East of the Sierra Nevada, therefore, we have a
long line of lakes bordering the chain. Sometimes the water sinks into
the sands of the desert. Some of these interior basins or valleys lie
at a high elevation, while others — ^like Death Valley — are known to be
below the level of the sea. The water of the lakes is generally intensely
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GEOLoaY. 433
saline, and the lakes themselves show evidences of quite recent changes
of level. Large areas, now dry, have been formerly occupied by lakes
or inland seas, which may have had their greatest developments during
the existence of gigantic glaciers, the marks of which are so abundant
throughout the high Sierra. But comparatively little is known of the
geology of the Great Basin, it being a vast and almost unexplored
desert, which is also the case with the southeastern portion of Califor-
nia, covering an area of about thiriy thousand square miles.
Geologically, the Sierra Nevada probably includes other mountain
chains, lying to the east in the Great Basin, though it is doubtless older
than the Kocky Mountain chain. From geological evidence, we know
that its upheaval took place before any of the Coast Banges were
formed ; or, in other words, after the deposition of the Jurassic, and
previous to that of the cretaceous era.
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CHAPTER VII.
ZOOLOGY.
GenenJ Plan. MimffALTA : Bean — Bacooon»-8kiiTikii— Glutton— Fiaher— Marten — Weaael
Otter -Cougar— Jagiuur— Ocelot — ^Wild Cats — Wolf— Coyote— Foxes— Sea Lions and
Seals —Sea Elephant— Shrews —Bats - Beaver —Marmots— Squirrels— Bats— Gophers —
Porcnpine-Hares— Elk— Deei^— Antelope— Bighorn— Whales and Porpoises. Birds:
Paysano - Cuckoo— Woodpeckers — ^Eagles — Hawks— Owls — Vultures— Crows— Magpies
Jays — Kingfishers —Flycatchers — Nighthawks —Humming Birds — Swallows — Waxwings
Thrushes —Mocking Birds —Grosbeaks —Linnets — €k>ldfinches — Sparrows — Pigeons-
Doves— Cranes— Herons— Ibis— Plover— Snipe— Curlew8--Quail—Swan8--Geese Bnuit
Ducks —Pelicans— Cormorants — Albatross - Fulmars -Petrels— Gulls— Loons- Grebes
—Sea Parrot— Sea Pigeon— Murre. Bbptilks : Tortoise— Turtles— Lizards -Iguana—
Homed Toads —Glass Snake — Battlesnakes- Harmless Snakes -Frogs, etc., — Salaman*
ders— Four-legged Fish. Fishes : Perch— Kingftsh— Basse -Moonfish— Goldfish— Vivi-
parous Fish -Bedfish — Kelpfish — Mackerel— Bonito — Albioore — Barracouta -Flying
Fish— Panther Fish— Sticklebacks— Rock-Cod— Sculpin— Wolf-Eel -Gobies— Toad Rsh
—Lump Fish-Flat Fish— Halibut->-Turbot~Sole— Cod— Whiting— Codling— Tom-Cod
— Snake Fish — Salmon Trout- -White Fish — Smelts— Eillies— Herring — Anchovies-
Chubs — Suckers — Conger-Eel — Balloon Fish- Sea Horse — ^Pipe Fish — Sturgeons — Bays
— Sharks — ^Torpedo — ^Angel Fish — Stingrays — Lampreys — Worm Fish. Moixusca:
Oystera— Clams— Date Fish— Mussels. Cbubtacul : Crabs— Lobster— Shrimps — Craw,
fish.
THE ANIMAIiS OF ciLIFOBNIA.
The following is a brief systematic enumeration of the vertebrated
animals of California, intended to show, as far as the allotted space
will permit, how many and what sorts of creatures we have, of the
four highest classes. Their scientific names are given, so that those
who seek further information may find it in books which treat of them,
and in which the English names are often omitted or used difierently.
The latter are notoriously uncertain, the same being often given to
different animals, and different names to the same animal in various
regions, some instances of which are here mentioned.
It would be impossible to give here even a list of the invertebrate
animals, and as few of them have English names, such a list woidd
convey no information to the general reader. No complete work on
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ZOOLOGY. 436
the insects has yet been attempted, and the Coleoptera alone have
been pretty fully described, numbering about four hundred species.
The known Mollusca are nearly eight hundred species, including those
of the land, fresh and salt waters. The Radiata are also as yet unde-
termined, but it is hoped that the Legislature will authorize the publi-
cation of complete illustrated works on all these branches, as well as
those on the Vertebrates which are now being prepared by the Geolog-
ical Survey.
The first in rank of the animal kingdom is the class to which the
name of "animals" is often improperly limited, also called "quadru-
peds," although there are also numerous four-footed animals in the
cla3S of Reptiles. The name of Mammalia, or sucklers, is the only
one that really defines the limits of the class, as it includes the whales,
which have no legs, and the bats and seals, in which the limbs are
scarcely to be called legs.
Of the nine orders usually recognised in this class, three are with-
out native representatives in California, viz: the Qtuzdrumana, or mon-
keys, PachydermcUa, including the hog, elephant, etc., and the Edeniakt
of which the armadillo and ant-eater are examples. The others are,
however, abundantly represented, about one hundred and fifteen spe-
cies having been found in the State or along its seaboaroL
Obdeb Gabnivoba — ^Flesh-Eatebs.
The Grizzly Bear (1. Ursiis horrtbtlis) stands at the head of the
rapacious order, although its little relative, the raccoon, is nearer the
monkeys in many respects. "Grizzlies" were formerly numerous in
nearly every county of the State, and so many accounts of their fero-
cious depredations have been published, that every one is sufficiently
acquainted with the character of the animal. Now, however, they
have become scarce in the more populous counties, the American rifle
having destroyed or driven them away, and their audacity is so much
diminished, that they are scarcely dangerous unless suddenly surprised
in their dens, or wounded. "When seen at some distance they usually
walk away with a slow and dignified pace, showing that all they want
is to be let alone. Their food, like that of their relatives, is in great
part vegetable, and they have not, therefore, the bloodthirsty disposi-
tion of many of the more carnivorous animals. Though formerly con-
sidered untamable, they are now often seen in menageries, and show
great sagacity, though too rough to be safely played with. Their skins
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436 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
are of little or no value, and only the appetite of a famishing hnnter
can relish the flesh of an old one.
The Black Bear (2. Ursus Americanua) is limited to the counties
north of San Francisco bay, and the higher part of the Sierra Nevada.
It is exactly the same animal found in the Atlantic States, and differs
from the grizzly not only in color, but in anatomical characters. The
hair is also much softer, and the skin of considerable value for robes^
etc. It is rather a timid animal, usually nocturnal in its travels, and
generally runs away at the first suspicion of being hunted. Occasion-
ally its depredations on young pigs, calves, etc., make it an object of
the farmer's vengeance, and its meat is pretty good eating. The skin
is worth four to eight dollars. The bears called ** cinnamon" and
"brown " are believed by naturalists to be merely varieties in color of
the grizzly and black species, as litters of young are found varying
through almost every shade between these colors, although there is
nothing indicating mixture of the two species. There is, however,
some reason to think that the brown bear of Mexico, a smaller kind,
may be foimd in our southern counties. It is mentioned in the United
States and Mexican Boundary Eeport as Ursus amblyceps, Baird.
The Baccoon of Western America (3, Procyon Hemandesdi) differs
from the Eastern species only in some unimportant anatomical charac-
ters. It has the same mischievous, playful disposition, like that of
the monkeys, and is often tamed as a pet. It is hunted only for spori^
or for its skin, which is little used; but its flesh is considered good
eating by many. Being very much an arboreal animal, it is scarce in
proportion to the absence of timber, becoming rare in the southern
counties. Its depredations on the hen-roost occasionally make it the
victim of the farmer and his dogs. The skin is worth only from ten to
twenty-five cents.
The American Badger (L Taxidea Americana) takes the place of the
raccoon in the woodless districts and the forests, where its burrows
may be seen excavating the ground in every direction — ^being dug iu
pursuit of squirrels or other small quadrupeds. Being mostly sub-
terranean in its habits, unable to climb or to run fast, it does no injury
to the farmer, but on the contrary benefits him by destroying large
numbers of vermin. Its hair is coarse, its skin worth only about
seventy-five cents to one dollar, and its flesh almost is uneatable.
The Skunks are allied to the badger, but less subterranean, hunt-
ing what small birds, eggs, insects, etc., they can find on the ground,
and, though slow-paced, find so much food as to be usually fat Two
species are common here. The large kind (5. Mephitis occidentalis) is
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zooLoar. 437
yery much like that common in the Atlantic States, but larger, and black
with two white stripes. The other, (6. Mephitis bicolor), found only west
of the Mississippi, is only a third the size of the preceding, and has
several white stripes and spots. The fur being long, soft and finely
variegated, is used to some extent by furriers, who can eradicate the
well-known odor of the animal. The skins sell to them for ten to
forty cents each.
The Glutton, or Wolverine, (7. Gvlo luscua), resembles a skunk in
form, but is as large as a sheep, though with short legs. A few are
killed every winter in the snowy heights of the northern Sierras.
They are noted principally for robbing the hunter's traps, possessing
great strength for their size, and dropping from trees on the necks ol
deer which they kill by biting through the blood vessels. Their skins
sell for one dollar to three dollars and fifty cents each.
The Fisher (8. Mustda Pennantii) is also a straggler from the snowy
north to the summits of the Sierra Nevada, where a few are annually
kiUed. The skins are worth from one to four dollars each, and well
knowu as a material for capes, etc. This animal is chiefly arboreal,
and found only in the dense timber, where it hunts birds and small
quadrupeds, combining the habits of the dog and cat in its manner of
securing prey.
The American Sable, or Marten, (9, Miislda Americana), is also foomd
in the high Sierra — but is rare. Its beautiful fur is well known, and its
habits are like those of its larger relative — the fisher. The skin is
worth from one to three dollars in its undressed state.
The Mink (10. Putori^w vison) is more common in the northern parts
of the State, and identical with the mink of the Eastern States. Its
fur is fine, but less valuable than the preceding. It is a more aquatic
animal, living much on fish, but often seeking the barnyard to prey on
fowls at night Its "pelt" is worth three to four dollars.
The Yellow-cheeked Weasel (^11. Pvioriuaocatithogenya) is peculiar to
this State, as far as known. It is very prettily marked with brown and
yellow stripes on the head, but its fur is too short to be of value, and
its strong odor makes it an undesirable pet, although it might become
useful as a rat-catcher, if tamed.
The California Otter fll. iMra CoHfomica) is common in fresh
water streams throughout the northern half of this State. It differs
only in some anatomical characters from the otter of the Atlantic
States and Europe, and its fur is of some value. As is well known, it
lives entirely on fish, and is easily tamed, becoming quite docile and
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438 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
playful in captivity, when taken yonng. The skin is worth from four to
five dollars here.
The Sea-Otter, (13. Enhydra marina)^ limited to the North Pacific
Ocean, is much more aquatic in habits than the land otter, and goes
very far from shore, thus forming a link between the latter and the
seals. Formerly very abundant along our coasi^ its valuable fur has
made it such a prize to the hunter that it is now rarely seen, and only
killed with great difficulty, on account of its wariness and rare occur-
rence out of the water. Very little is known of its habits, and speci-
mens even of the bones are very scarce in museums. It has been
reported as formerly a common visitor to the larger rivers of this
State; but steamboats and hunters have recently kept it away. The
skins sell at from thirty to one hundred dollars each to furriers, who
export them chiefly to China.
The Cougar, also called American Panther, and California Idon,
(14. Fdis concolor) is a species identical throughout North America, and
also found in South America, where it is called puma, etc. It is com-
mon in the wooded portions of the State, and dangerous when irritated,
though cowardly and nocturnal in habits. It is often killed when
preying on the farmer's stock, attacking chiefly young animals. Its
flesh is rarely or never eaten, and its skin worth only seventy-five cents
to one dollar.
The Jaguar ("15. Fdts onca) is much more like the panther of Asia,
being beautifully spotted. A few have undoubtedly been killed in this
State, but it is now very rare, though common in Mexico and South
America, whence most of the skins are brought, selling here for one
to four dollars. The Ocelot (Fdis eyra?) is said to be found in the
southern part of California, but has not been recently confirmed as a
native.
The Wild Cat, or Red Lynx, (16. Lynx rufus), is abundant throughout
California, and noted chiefly for its destruction of poultry, young
lambs, etc. It is identical with that of the Atlantic States, but there
is a suspicion that the larger and darker colored lynx of Oregon (Lyna
fasciatus) may also be found in the northern part of this State. Their
skins are worth ten to sixty cents only.
The American Civet Cat, called Raccoon-Fox, and Mountain Cat,
(17. Bassaris astuta), is found quite frequently in the lower Sierras,
extending north from Mexico. It is a great pet among the miners,
noted for playfulness and gentleness, hunting mice, rats, birds, etc.,
and having much the habits of the domestic cat. Its fur is rather
coarse and valueless.
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ZOOLOGY* 439
The Gray Wolf (18. Canis ocdderUalis) is common in the northern and
higher districts of the State, as well as throughout the country. Its
worthless and cowardly character is too well known to need further
notice. The skin is worth from one to two dollars.
The Cayote (19. Cants kUrans) is found only in or near the region of
plains. It combines the characters of the wolf and fox, and its skin
is so valueless that it is even of less consequence than the latter, the
best bringing only one dollar.
Of foxes, no less than seven species have been described as inhab-
itants of this State. They vary exceedingly in color, and but two well
marked species can be founded on differences in their forms. These
are, firsts the Long-tailed Fox, (20. Vulpes macrourus), which shows the
most variation in color, ranging from black to red, with a mixture of
gray. The silver variety has been named as distinct, but is said to
occur in the same litter with all the other shades. Its skin is some-
times worth twenty-five dollars. Some of them are marked by a cross
on the shoulders, and then called cross fox. The smaller red fox of
the Atlantic States (Fulpea fulvua) is also said to have similar varieties,
and may perhaps occur in this State.
The Gray Fox (21. Vulpes Virginianus) seems to be identical with
the Eastern animal, and differs in many respects from the others, its
coarse fur being less valuable, and its habits quite different.
The Island Fox (22. Vulpes lUioralis) is confined to some of the
southern islands, and seems to be merely a small local variety of the
gray fox.
The Swift Fox (23. Vulpes vdox) is a small kind found on the desert
plains of the interior, and seems a stunted form of the Bed or Long-
tailed Fox. A similar varieiy occurs on the islands. All these species
except the silver variety are worth from two to four dollars each for
their skins.
The Seal family furnishes several interesting examples along our
coast. The Sea-Lions are the most generally known, as they resort
in large numbers to the rocks and islands near the shores, where, if
unmolested, they allow a very near approach, and opportunities of
observing their curious habits. At Seal Rock, near the Golden Gtite,
they are among the chief attractions to visitors, who resort there in
thousands from the city during fine weather. There are similar local-
ities all along the coast, and their not unmusical roaring, mingled with
the sound of the waves, gives an animation to the sea-beach not found
CD our eastern shores. Several species have been named, but there
is still some doubt as to the number, as the females are only a third
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440 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA,
the size of the males, and appear to have been named as distinct ani-
mals. Both sexes also yary in size on different islands, those of the
Farallones being a third larger than those of Santa Barbara island.
Investigations now in progress will decide the question, and the scien-
tific names already given may be mentioned here merely for future
reference. (24 Arctocephalus GtUeapii, 25. A, Monteriensis. 26. A.
Cali/omiantw, the latter, perhaps, the same as Otaria SteHeri.) The
Arctic sea-bear (A. ursinns) probably does not come so far south, nor
does the walrus (Eosmarua obesvs.)
The larger Sea-Lions of the Farallones are of little or no value com-
mercially, as they do not furnish oil enough to pay for the trouble and
expense of trying it out. The smaller kind of Santa Barbara Island is,
however, hunted annually by two or three companies of sealers, who make
a profit from about six weeks' work in May and June, but do nothing at
sealing the rest of the year. The oil is very impure and dark, and is
used by the tanners to dress leather with, for which purpose most of it
is exported to New York. Little, if any use has been found for the
skins, and the carcasses are left where they are killed. Being fish-
eaters, these animals are not very sanguinary in disposition, but rather
cowardly, although the males fight fiercely together, always shuffling
off into the water on the approach of men, especially where they are
much hunted. All these seals have fur of a very similar quality, and
their skins, known as hair-seals, sell for only twenty-five cents to a
dollar apiece, being those of young animals only.
The Leopard Seal (27. Phoca Pealii ?) is a small species common on
rocks and in bays. It is beautifully spotted, in the same manner as
the leopard, but with duller colors, and its skin is of very little value,
the hair being thin and coarse. Being very timid and much persecu-
ted by idlers who make a mark of every animal they see, whether they
can use it or not, these animals have become cautious and are difficult
to approach. They go high up the rivers where the water is clear, in
pursuit of fish, as do the young sea-lions.
There is a species of Fur-Seal, (yet undetermined scientifically,)
which visits the Farallones and other islands on our coast, in small
numbers, being probably the same foimd abundantly on the coast of
Alaska, where the skins form a considerable article of traffic, the price
being from one dollar to two dollars and fifiy cents each.
The Califomian Sea-Elephant (29. Macrorhinus angustirostris) was
formerly abundant at some seasons on the islands of our coast, but has
been exterminated or driven away by the persecutions of sealers, so
that few or none can now be found north of San Diego. They resemble
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ZOOLOGY. 441
the animal so-called found near Gape Horn, but have recently been
determined to be a distinct species not mentioned in any work on our
Natural History before 1866. They are about equal to the Arctic wal-
rus in size, the males especially, which have also a short proboscis
from which their name is derived, though they have not the elephantine
tusks of the walrus. They are said to yield as much as sixty gallons of
oil apiece, while the sea-lions only furnish ten or twelve, and to be
about twelve feet long. Being stupid and easily killed, this curious
and valuable animal was destroyed on our coast by the cupidiiy of the
sealers in a very few years after the annexation of California. It is
to be hoped that some means may be devised to encourage their return
and increase along our shores.
The "Califomian" opossum, (Diddphys Cali/omica), though thus
named, has not been found by naturalists north of the Mexican boun-
dary. It closely resembles that common in the Atlantic States, and in
many respects forms a sort of link connecting the Carnivorous with the
Insectivorous order. Otherwise, it needs no mention here.
Ordeb Insecttv^oba — Insect-Eatebs.
The Insectivorous order of Mammals is a sort of miniature series,
suited for keeping in check the increase of the insect world, just as the
Carnivorous kinds do the larger animals. There are not many spe-
cies known to inhabit this State, and they are little known, their habits
being chiefly subterranean or noctumaL
The "Western Mole, (30. Scalops IbtvnsendiiX is the most common
and universally known. It may be considered beneficial to agriculture,
as it eats only insects, and the harm it does is chiefly by uprooting
seeds and young plants, in its search for their enemies. A very slight
inspection of its form and teeth should enable the gardener to distin-
guish it from the destructive gophers to be hereafter mentioned. Its
mode of burrowing is also quite diflerent.
A Star-nosed Mole (31. Condylura macroura?) is supposed to be
found in California, but not recently obtained. It is remarkable for
having a curious excrescence on the end of its nose.
There are two or three species of Shrews found in the iiorthem and
mountainous parts of this State, but scarcely ever seen, and then,
usually confounded with mice. They resemble these in form of body
and limbs, but have the head and minute eyes of the mole. They are
nocturnal, and when a cat catches one she leaves it uneaten, on account
of a peculiar odor possessed by all the animals of this order. (32. So-
rexvagram. 33. Sorex Sucklei/i. 34. Sorex ?)
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442 THB NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
ObdeB' Cheibopteba.
The Bats of this State are also Insectivorous, but form a distinct
order, on account of their wings^ and some tropical species also live
chiefly on fruits.
One found near Fort Yuma^ (35. Macrotus Cali/omicus)^ besides
being the largest United States species, has a curious leaf-shaped ex-
crescence on the nose, like many tropical bats.
Another, found in the desert east of the Sierra^ has ears nearly half
as large as its wings, (36. Synotvs TotmtsendiL) The other species found
here are more or less of the ordinary form of small bats, and need not
be especially mentioned. There are about fifteen species known in all,
of which nine are also found east of the Bocky Mountains. Full infor-
mation respecting them is given in Allen's Monograph of North Ameri-
can Bats — a Smithsonian publication — 1864 (37. Nyctinoraua nasutus.
38. Lasiurua noveboracerms. 39. L. dnereus. 40. Scotophilua fuscus.
41. 8, noctivagana. 42. 8. heaperus, 43. Vesperiilio aubidcUus. 44. V.
evotis. 45. V. lucifugus. 46. F. obscurtia. 47. V. Yumanensis. 48. V,
nitidua. 49. V. macropus. 50. Anirozous paUidua.)
Obdeb Bodentia — Gkawebs.
The ** Gnawers" are largely represented in this State, whose luxu-
riant plains and rich forests furnish them with abundance of roots,
grains and masi
The Beaver, (51. Castor Canadensis), identical throughout North
America, is quite common in parts of this State where water abounds,
as in the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Colorado rivers. Many are
killed every winter, but their skins are not so fine as those of more
northern regions. They do no special damage, unless by undermining
levees, and are so timid as to disappear about as soon as settlements
require such embankments, giving place to their relatives, the musk-
rats, which are far more destructive. The skin is worth from one to
two dollars per pound — averaging three to five dollars apiece.
The "Sewellel," or •* Mammoth Mole "of the miners, (52. Aplo-
dontia leporina), is a very curious animal peculiar to this coast. It has
many characters like the beaver, but no tail, and is not web-footed,
though burrowing chiefly in wet places. It is found in the higher and
more northern part of the State — ^but little is known of its habits. Its
fur is of little value, and its flesh poor eating, though preferable to the
fishy beaver. It connects the latter animal with the marmots. Their
skins are not distinguished by furriers from those of the muskrat, and
being smaller^ are worth only about ten cents each.
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ZOOLOGY. 443
The Yellow-bellied Marmot, also called Woodchuck and Ground-Hog
(53. Arctomysjlaviventria), is found in the northern mountainous parts of
California, and resembles in size, habits, etc., the animal so-called in
the Eastern States. They are occasionally tamed as pets, and also
eaten, though rather coarse, and the skin is used in the country for
caps, mittens, etc., being worth only about ten cents. Another species
may, perhaps, be found here.
The Grey Ground-Squirrels (54 SpermophUtia Beecheyi, and 55. S.
Douglassii) are so numerous and destructive in all parts of the val-
leys that are not annually inundated, as to be one of the most serious
pests of the farmer and gardener. No. 55 is confined to the northern
part of this State and Oregon, but differs very little from the more
southern species. They are of the size of a half-grown cai^ and have
a long, bushy tail, like the tree squirrel; but do not ascend trees,
except occasionally for food, making their dwelling in the ground,
which in many places is full of their burrows for miles together.
Although difficult to exterminate, they will probably, in a few years,
become as scarce in the settled districts as the Eastern squirrels now
are in places where they formerly destroyed nearly all the crops, and
had a premium placed on their heads. Our species are considered
pretty good eating when properly prepared. There are three other
species of this genus not half the size of the above mentioned, and
more interesting for their beauty than injurious. 56. S. degam is gray
and reddish ; its tail short and flat. It inhabits east of the Sierras.
57. S. lateralis is rich brown, with one white and two black stripes on
each side — inhabiting the high Sierras. 58. S» Harrisai is gray, with
a white stripe on each side, and is found only in the desert plains
of the southeast part of the State. None of them furnish skins of
any commercial value, although the Siberian squirrel, of the sam^
genus, supplies a well known and fine fur.
Of the true squirrels, inhabiting forests only, we have two spe-
cies. The large Hare-Squirrel (59. Scinrus leporinns) is common in the
mountains from Santa Cruz north. It is the largest and most beautiful
North American species, and considerably larger than the ground
squirrels; its fur a fine clear gray, with an exceedingly bushy tail longer
than its head and body. It is a favorite game for himters and supplies
a dainty dish for the table, while it is not numerous enough to be
destructive anywhere.
The Pine-Squirrel (60. Sciurua Dcniglami) is not a quarter the size of
the other — dark brown, pale below, with a black stripe on each side.
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444 THE NATUEAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA.
It is found north of San Francisco bay and in the Sierras, and is only
interesting as a peL
The Chipmonks, also called Striped Ground-Squirrels, famish ua
with two species. The lai^er kind (61. Ihmias TownaeruJit) is nearly ol
the size of the pine squirrel, and inhabits both ranges of mountains,
as far south as Santa Cruz. The other, (62. T, quadriviUatus), a little
smaller, is found in the higher Sierras, and eastward to the Bocky
moimtains. They are beautiful little animals, living in the ground,
but ascending trees for nuts, etc., not difficult to tame, especially the
last, which is often the familiar guest of the miner's cabin.
The Western Flying Squirrel (63. Pteromya Oregonensis) is ascer-
tained to be found as far south as Cape Mendocino, and probably
extends much further. It is twice as large as that found in the East-
em States, with fur beautifully soft, and it will no doubt make as inter-
esting a pet as that docile little species, but on account of its nocturnal
habits, very little is yet known respecting it
The Mouse family and its relatives count largely both in numbers
of species and individuals. Of those allied to the house-mouse, we
have three species, all originally from the Old World. These are the
common mouse (64. Mas musculiLs), the Norway rat (65. M decuma-
nus), and the black rat (66. M. raUm), all accompanying the spread of
S3ttlements and driving out the native species, while the black rat is
driven out by its larger relative wherever introduced. Albinos of all
are found, especially of the last.
The Wood-Mice and Prairie-Mice are the natives of the soil, and six
species are found in various parts of the State, resembling in general
form the house-mouse, but larger, and of different colors, proportions,
and anatomical structure They are of no great interest except to
naturalists, or lovers of nature, as they do little or no injury to the
crops, and are soon exterminated. (67. H. Gambdii; 68. H, ausierus;
69. H. Boylii; 70. H. Sonoriemis ; 71. H. Cali/omicus; 72. H. eremicus.)
The Wood-Eats have a similar relation to the introduced rats^ and
abound in certain districts, building high nests of twigs in the woods,
but retire before cultivation. One kind (73. Neotoma occidentalis) found
in the higher and more northern moimtains, has a tail very much like
that of a squirreL 74. N. Mexicana^ and 75. N, fusdpes, have bristly
tails.
The Field-Mice are common in low meadows, burrowing in the
groimd, and having short legs, tails, and ears, approaching the form
of the gophers. Six species are found in various parts of this State,
but have not yet excited much attention by their depredations, although
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ZOOLOGY. 445
their allies in the East are often destractive. As the larger rodents
are destroyed, and the small carnivorous animals which eat them also
vanish, these little mice become numerous. (76. A. Toumsendii; 77.
A montana; 78. A hngirosbris ; 79. A edax; 80. A. Cali/omica; 81. A.
Oregoni.)
The Muskrat (82. Fiber zibetkicus) is like an immense field-mouse,
as large as a cat, with webbed feet, and bare, flattened, narrow tail.
They are undoubtedly found in this State; though rare in the districts
inhabited by their aquatic rival, the beaver. As the latter is destroyed,
they will probably increase, and become as destructive to levees,
dit<;hes and dams, as they are in the East Their flesh is uneatable,
and the skin has a value of only ten to fifteen cents at the wholesale
dealers.
The Jumping-Mouse (83. Jacidnff Hudsonius) is a little animal allied
to the jerboas, with elongated hind-legs and tail, but without cheek-
pouches like the similar kangaroo mice. It is found in our higher and
northern regions, as well as eastward, but is only interesting as a
matter of curiosity, or as a pet.
The Pouched Mice, called Kangaroo Mice and ** Gophers," form a
peculiar American family, most numerous on the western slope. The
latter name, derived from the French, means '^ digger" and is also
applied to species of burrowing tortoise found in the southern Atlan-
tic States and California — an instance of the uncertainty of popular
names. The kangaroo mice have very long hind legs, much in the pro-
portions of the Australian kangaroos, and like them can jump amazing
distances for their size. The larger kinds are two species, found in
most parts of this State, and as large as a half-grown rai They live
chiefly in woods or shrubbery, but sometimes make a home in a retired
house, where their hoppings may be heard in the garret at night.
Their pouches are in their cheeks, not in the abdomen, as in the kan-
garoo, which belongs to the opossum tribe. (84. Dipodomya dgilis;
85. B. Philippii.)
The smaller kinds are also of two species, differing from the above
in shorter limbs and tails, as well as in anatomical characters. They
inhabit the more dry and sandy districts. Both burrow in the ground
and live on seeds, being shy and harmless as far as known. (86. Perog-
nathtis parvus; 87. P. peniciUcUus.)
The "Gophers" furnish us with five species in California, differ-
ing in size, color, and somewhat in form. The largest is that most com-
mon in the middle counties near the coast, (88; Thomomys buUnvorus),
and is a great pest to the gardener^ burrowing under and destroying
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446 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
many kinds of roots and Tegetables. They are kept out by deep
trenches or destroyed by the gun, poison, traps, dogs and cats, and yet
they are worse to exterminate than the hurger squirrels. They vary
from the size of a mole to that of a large rat, and though the fur is soft,
it is of no value. Full details regarding the anatomy and much of the
habits of all the small Bodents, may be found in the Pacific Bailroad
Reports: Zoology, toIs. VI, Vm, X, and XTL (89. 7! lalicepay cour
fined to the northwest counties ; 90. 7! borealia, found northward and
on mountains ; 91. 7! umbrinus, found in the southeast quarter : 92.
T./ulvuSy found in the southern parts only.)
The Tellow-haired Porcupine (Erethizon epixanthu8\ is found in the
northern- mountainous regions of this State. It is of the size of a
poodle dog, and resembles closely the Atlantic coast porcupine, except
in the color of the hairs which are mixed with the short spines. The
animal lives wholly on the leaves and bark of trees, and being easily
discovered by the stripping it causes, is soon destroyed, being slow
in its movements and not concealing itself much.
The EEare family supplies us with six species differing in size and
color, which abound in the open grassy districts. The larger ones only
are called hares^ (94 Lepus campestris; 95. L. caUotia; 96. L. Caliform-
cu8)y and are each limited to particular regions, the last being the most
numerous west of the Sierra Nevada.
The smaller kinds, called Babbits, (97. Leptia artemisia; 98. X. Aur
dubonii; 99. L. Trotobridgii), are also somewhat similarly distributed,
but the two latter occur together throughout most of the western slope
of the State. None of them burrow like the true imported rabbit
Their habits are similar to those of the European hare and of our East-
em rabbits, and they are about alike for food. The quality of their far
is also very similar in all, and of little value. The L. campestris turns
white in winter.
The Kat-Babbit, (100. Lagomys prhweps ?), sometimes called the
"Coney," and "Little Chief," is a curious animal, with the general
appearance of a young rabbit, as large as a rat, but. with no tail^ and
with large r<ywnd ears, the hind legs rather short. It inhabits the Al-
pine summits of the Sierra Nevada, among enormous granite boulders
and banks of perpetual snow, where it must sleep away two thirds of
the year.
Obdxb BuMiNAinjiA — Cud-Cheweb^
The Elk, or Wapiti, (101. Cervm Canadensis), was formerly abimd-
ant in most portions of the State, and is still common in the forests of
the northern counties, while some exist in the marshes of Tulare valley,
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ZOOLOGY. 4^
Tisitmg the nplands in winter. Their skins are worth twelve to seven-
teen cents per pound.
The "White-tailed Deer (102. Cervua leucurus) inhabits the middle
and eastern parts of the State, and is scarcely, if at all, distinct from
the common deer of the Eastern States ((7. Virginumua). It is, how-
ever, more rare than the black-tailed.
The Mule-Deer (103. Cervus macroHs) seems to be limited chiefly to
the Eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, whence it extends to the Bocky
mountains. It is remarkable for its long mule-like ears and large size.
The Black-tailed Deer (104 Cervus Cdumbianits) is by far the most
common species throughout the State, especially west of the Sierra
Nevada, and is quite common a few miles from San Francisco. It has
longer limbs, ears, and tail than the C. Virginianu8y the tail black above,
and also differs in color of the body. The skins of all these deer are
worth twelve to twenty-five cents per pound.
The American Antelope (106. AntUocapra Americana) was formerly
found in large herds throughout the dry plains and valleys of Califor-
nia, but is now much restricted in range, though still to be seen in
the Salinas and Tulare valleys, as well as east of the Siqrra Nevada.
Its meat is inferior to that of the deer, and its skin of little value, bring*
ing only eight to fifteen cents per pound.
The Mountain Sheep, or ** Bighorn," (106. Ovis morUana\ is found in
the higher parts of the Sierra Nevada, and on the mountains east of
them, but is not often killed on account of its extreme wariness. It is
deserving of domestication on account of its size — twice that of the
domestic sheep — its skin, and enormous horns, out of which the north-
em Indians make many useful utensils. At the time of the first visit
to Monterey bay by the Spaniards they found these animals living in
that vicinity.
Obdeb Cetacea— Fish-like Mammata
The Whales and their smaller relatives, the Porpoises, abound along
our coast, and the business of killing them for oil is carried on profit-
ably at several points, especially in the winter and spring, by com-
panies who attack them in boats, shoot them with the harpoon-gun,
and tow them ashore to try out the oil. On account of the difficulty of
studying and comparing such enormous animals the species are not
well determined, but are known to belong to the following genera, and
to differ in most instances from those of the Atlantic.
The "Bight Whale" (107. Balcenamysiicdus?) is believed by whalers
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448 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA.
to be the same species found entirely around the Arctic circla A iew
are killed every year along this coast
The "California Gray" (108. Balcena ?) is peculiar to this
ocean, but perhaps found near Japan. It is nearly as large as the pre-
ceding, and furnishes most of the oil obtained by shore- whalers, as it
migrates north and south near the coast in the spring and falL
The "Humpback" (109. Borqualm ?) is so called from a prom-
inence connected with the dorsal fin, peculiar to this genus. It is not
a favorite with the whalers.
The Fin-back (110. Borquoilua ?) is an allied species which does
not grow large nor furnish much of the oil collected on our coast
The Sperm Whale (111. Physder macrocephalus) is generally con-
sidered identical in all tropical oceans, and occasionally wanders into
temperate seas, but is never killed from the shore unless one should
happen to get stranded. They are, however, killed near enough to be
counted as Califomian, and many caigoes of their oil are annually
shipped from San Francisco to the East
The "Black-Fish" (112. Gkbicephalug ?) is a small, round-
headed wha]e, sometimes killed, but not of much economical import-
ance.
The Bay-Porpoise (113. Phocoena ?) is a large species, some-
times killed for its oil, but not generally considered Worth hunting.
The Dolphin-Porpoises (114. Ddphimis — ?) are of two or three
species, not over five feet long, and rarely, if ever, killed for any pur-
pose, though the flesh of some species is considered eatable.
The Killer (115. Orca ?) is a kind of Porpoise that goes in com-
panies^ and is said to kill the smaller whales by springing from the
water and coming down vertically on their heads.
BIRDS.
Of this class three hundred and fifty species have been positively
ascertained to occur within the limits of California, and yet many trav-
elers have asserted that there is a great deficiency of ornithological
life, and especially of singing birds. Without undertaking to describe
nearly all the species, which our limited space prevents, we can easily
show that all the orders of birds common to temperate climates are
well represented. The error has arisen partly from the small amount
of migration occurring among them in consequence of our equable
climate, and partly from the fact that the usual routes of travel pass
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ZOQLOGT. 449
tbrongh the most open plains at a distance from the groveSi and where
in the dry Beason comparatLvely few birds remain* In tlie following
bri^sf notice's an att*^mpt m made to distinguiah some of the fipecies? hj
mentioning their most striking chai-acters, bnt this usually applies only
to tho males, the females and joung being often quite difiai'ent in
colors^ as are the males of many small birds in winter.
ULKD Bums.
OhDER ScANSOKES — CLtMBEES.
These birds are analogons to the monkeys among mammals, snited
for a life among or on the trees, bnt also capable of living in a variety
of conditions, and therefore entitled to rank the highest of their class.
The parrc»ts are familiar to every one in a domesticated condition, and
are well known to e^eel all others in intelligence, None of these haye
jet been foimd native within our limits.
The Koad-Rnnner, Chaparral Cock, Paysano, Snake-kill or. Racer,
etc., for it is called by all these popular names (1- Gcococcf/x CaHfurm--
arms), is nearest allied t(3 the cuckoos as indicated by its generic name,
meaning ground -cue koo, but presents us with a curious modi£ cation
of that arboreal family, suited for existence in nearly treeless regions,
and has therefore been always a jiuzzle to amateur ornithologists,
many of whom insist that it is an ally of the jibeasant, because it can
run swiftly, seldom ascends trees (imd then only by jumping or elimb-
ing), and can only By at a downward inelination. They therefore aaseri
that it must be a good game bird, although it feeds on snake^^ lizards,
etc., and is in every reBpect unfit for food. It is, however, one of the
most cnrions and interesting birds of this State, having no representa-
tive in the East, and but one in Mexico,
The Yellow -billed Cuckoo (2. Ctx-ci/giis Amencanns) is fonnd in the
interior valleys in summer, as well as in the Atlantic States, where it
is often called Rain Crow, on account of uttering its cackling notes so
frequently before a rain, as to be considered a veTj good prophetb
Here, however, there is little or no rain during its residence, which is
only from April to September. It has not the peculiar habit of the
European cuckoo, which has given that bird a dishonest reputation;
but is a robber of birds-nests, like its relative just mentioned, and of
no particular interest except to lovers of natxire.
The Woodpecker family has no less than fifteen species in this State,
nearly all distinct from the eastern, and among our most beautiful
birds. The typical genus has five small speoiea, of the group often
called Sapsuckers, although the little injury they do to the bark of
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460 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
trees is fallj compensated by their destmction of large numbers of
insects. Thej are usually mottled or barred with black and white, the
males with red caps; but one species is black, with a white head. (3.
Picus Harrisii ; 5. P. Oairdneri; 6. P.NuUaUi; 7. P.scolaris; 8. P.
albolarvahia.) From one to three of these species, together inhabit
the various wooded portions of the State; the two last only the more
eastern.
Next to these is the Arctic Woodpecker (9. Picoides arcticus), found
with us only in the subalpine mountain regions, whence it extends to
the northern limit of forests and the northern Atlantic States. It is
remarkable for having only three (instead of four) toes on each foot, a
yellow cap and black and white body.
The fourth group (10. Sphyrapicua nuchdis; 11. 8. ruber; 13. 8.
WiUiamsonti; 13. 8. thyroideus) are handsome birds of various plu-
mage, rarely seen out of the forests, where they frequent chiefly the
deciduous trees, and are said to subsist in part on the inner bark of
these, as well as on berries and insects. All are confined chiefly to the
Sierra Nevada^ except the second, which visits the Coast Kange in win-
ter near San Francisco, and is to be known by its blood-red head, neck
and breast
The Pileated Woodpecker, or Log Cock, (14. Hyhiomus pUeatus), is
the only one with a true crest of elongated red feathers found here,
(and also in the East). It is also very large, being equal to a pigeon in
size. It is foimd in the denser forests, feeding on the insects it extracts
from rotten wood, and is almost entirely black except its crest On
account of this crest, which careless observers suppose to be L'ke a
cock's comb, it is absurdly called Woodcock, and thus confounded with
a game-bird of the snipe family not found on this coast
The Gila Woodpecker (16. Centurua uropygicdts) is a beautiful species
of middle size, found only along the lower Colorado and southward.
The California Woodpecker (16. Mdanerpes formicivorus) is often
called "Carpintero," which is, however, only the Spanish name of all
these "hammerers." It is one of the most beautiful species, common
west of the Sierras and in Mexico, its plumage varied with steel-blue,
red, yellow, black and white. It is remarkable for the habit it has of
boring numerous holes in the soft bark of trees, in each of which it
places an acorn, accurately fitted and driven in. These acorns usually
contain young grubs, which eat out the contents of the nut, and having
grown large, becomes dainty food for the provident bird.
Lewis' Woodpecker, called also the Collared, (17. M. torquatu8\ is a
very beautiful bird, dark-green, with red on head and breast It is not
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ZOOLOGY- 451
very mdnstriotu^ preferring to catch insects in every way except by
pecking decayed wood, and living largely on fruits. It is common in
all except the southern counties, especially in coniferous forests.
The "Flickers," or "Highholes" (18. Colapies Meodcanua, and 19.
C. chrysoidea) are peculiar woodpeckers, with curved bills, of rather
large size, the first with the quills and tail-feathers red beneath, the
latter having them yellow. Their beautiful plumage is otherwise very
similar, but too varied to describe here, and nearly resembles that of
the eastern species (C. aurcUus) generally well known. They live in
great part on berries, and on ants, which they search for on the ground,
thus showing some resemblance to the ground -cuckoo. Being large
and common, they are often killed and eaten, though inferior for the
table. The second species is found only in the southeast counties.
Obdeb Baptobbs— Bibdb of Pbbt.
These are analogous to the Carnivorous Mammals, and like them
give us three groups of species, which may be called diurnal, nocturnal,
and carrion-eaters, although these are not the only characteristics dis-
tinguishing them, nor strictly natural, any more than such divisions of
caniivora are. The diurnal birds of prey, on account of their ferocity
and noble appearance, which only hides a tyrannical character, are the
kings of birds in the same sense as the lion is of beasts, but as much
below the parrot in intellect as the lion is below the monkey.
The White-headed Eagle (20. Haliceius leucocephcdua) usually
adopted as the emblem of the United States, is an abundant species
wherever it has not been exterminated by the murderous gun. The
Spanish settlers encouraged them on account of their destruction of
ground squirrels, and they seem rarely to have violated the trust thus
shown them by killing domestic animfiJs, although they undoubtedly
will sometimes destroy a young ox, weakly lamb, or fowl Partly to
prevent this, partly for the empty honor of "killing an eagle," the
American settlers are destroying them so fast that soon they will be
scarce enough to satisfy the most destructive mind.
The American Golden Eagle (21. Aquila Canaderma) is much less
numerous, but occasionally seen along the coasts preferring the lofty
mountains. It is large, yellowish-brown, and its legs are booted with
feathers down to the toes.
The Fish-Hawk (22. Pandion Carolinenais) is allied to the eagles,
but lives entirely on fish, which it catches by diving, and is found near
all the clear waters of the State, both fresh and salt
Two other large eagle-like birds, with some resemblance to vultures.
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452 THE KATUBAL WEALTH CF CALIFORKIA.
are fonnd, but rarely, in the southeast part of the State, and have been
described by various authors under the following names : (23. Craxirex
tiniciiictuSj 24. Pdyhorua tharua.)
The Buzzard-Hawks are next in size and more numerous. The
"Califomia Squirrel-hawk" (25. ArcMbuteo ferrugineus) is the most
common, being found all the year on the borders of the plains inhab-
ited by the squirrels, of which they destroy great numbers, but, like
their relatives, unfortunately do not distinguish between wild and tame
birds, so that they often feel the vengeance of the farmer. Their lai^e
size and feathered legs distinguish this species. Another smaller one
(26. A, lagopiis) comes from the north in winter, and is much more
marked with white. A variety or species entirely black is also some-
times found, (A. Sancti JohanmSy named from resemblance to the black
eagle of St John, represented in old pictures.)
Another group, often ctJled Chicken-Hawks and Buzzards, have the
legs bare, but otherwise resemble the preceding. There are so many
forms differing but little except in color, that naturalists are puzzled
whether to consider them of two or more species. Eight have been
described as found in this State, which are of two groups as to size,
and may be considered analogous to the varieties of color found among
our wolves and foxes. Besides this, the young of the first year are very
similar in all. The larger group is about half the size of the Eagles,
comprising Buleo borealis, and varieties- (?); 27. B. montanus; 28. B.
calurus; 28. B. Cooperi; B. Harlani; the last nearly all black. The
other comprises Buteo Stvavwoniy and varieties (?); 30. jB. insignatus;
B. Bairdii; B. oxyptervs; 32. B. wonocercus; the last again black, but
perhaps a good species. (Those not numbered have not been de-
tected in California.) The three first of the large group have red
tails when mature, while the smaller ones all have the tails banded, as
do the young of the others. All these are heavy, slow-flying hawks,
feeding usually on small birds, mice, etc., but sometimes catching do-
mestic poultry, and usually shot on suspicion by farmers, although it
might be better to merely use very fine shot, which would sting them
and drive them to their wild prey without killing them.
The Marsh-Hawk (33. Circus Hudsoniua) is a very common, large,
and well known kind, found about every level plain and marsh, where
they kill mice and small birds, rarely attacking poultry, and soon learn-
ing to let it alone. The white rump is a conspicuous mark of the spe-
cies, though the younger birds are elsewhere brown, and the old ones
ash-color above. It is found throughout North America.
The White-tailed Hawk (34 Elanus lucurus) is about half the size
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zooLOOT. 463
of the last ; a beantiful gray and white bird, with black shoulders. Its
habits are similar, and it is found, rather rarely, near this coast, as well
as near the Gulf of Mexico.
A more bold and destructive group, although smaller than most of
the preceding, may be distinguished as Hawks proper. There are three
species, scarcely diffi^ng except in size, especially in their young plu-
mage, in which most of them are killed. They are more light and
slender in form, with longer limbs, but weaker claws and bills, yet they
do not fear to attack birds larger than themselves, and are among the
kinds most destructive to poultry, their swiftness enabling them to catch
it unawares. The largest is about the weight of a hen — ^the smallest that
of a jay. (35. AccipUer Cooperii; 36. A. Meocwanus; 37. A, fuscus.)
The Goshawk (38. Astur ajtricapillm) is similar in form, but larger
and scarcely ever seen far from the thick forests where they hunt ducks,
rabbits, and other animals of similar size. This species is found only
in Northern America.
The Falcons proper are by many considered typical of the birds of
prey, though smaller than the eagles, etc., but they show much resem-
blance to the owls, though diurnal, and are analogous to the foxes.
We have four species.
The Western Duck-Hawk (39. Fcdco nigriceps) frequents the sea-
shore chiefly, and, though only a quarter the size of an eagle, boldly
seizes ducks and other birds as large as itself. Being swift and strong,
it is one of the most destructive species, and often carries off a fowl to
its inaccessible nest among the clifb before the favtner knows it has
been near.
The Hare-Hawk (40. Rdco pdyagrus) holds a similar position inland,
and is, of course, more destructive to fowls, but its wariness protects
it much more than the sluggish and larger buzzards.
The Pigeon-Hawk (41. Falco columbarius) is of the size of a pigeon,
and proportionately destructive. It is also common in the East
The Sparrow Hawk (42. Falco €parveriiuf\ also numerous throughout
America, is of the size of a Jay, beautifully colored, and can be con-
sidered only as a benefactor to the farmer, as it lives on mice and small
birds, never attacking chickens unless they are very young.
The nocturnal species are all called Owls, although some are nearly
as much like hawks. If the Lion family is the highest of Garni vora, as
some contend, so are the owls among birds; for they are strictly
analogous, and both have members nearly or quite diurnal in habitd.
The Great Homed Owl (43. Bvbo Virginianus) is common through-
out North America^ and of the size of our largest Hawks. It lives
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454 THE NATDBAL WEALTH OF CAUPOENIA.
chiefly in forests or cayes, and preys only at night, occasionally taking
a chicken off the roost if exposed, and is said even to kill turkeys.
Like other owls> however, they kill more rats and mice than anything
else, becaose those animals also move about at night and are more
easily found than the roosting birds. There are three smaller species
found here which have little tufts of long f eathei;8 on the head called
''horns" or ''ears»" though apparently designed only to make them look
like cats.
The Short-eared Marsh Owl (44 Brachyotaa Cassinit) visits us only
in the cold months, when large numbers of them are sometimes seen in
the meadows, hiding in long herbage, and in cloudy weather hunting
mice, etc., by day. They are half the size of the last^ pale in color,
and do little or no damage.
The Long-eared Owl (Otys WUsonianus) is much smaller, gray, and
lives permanently in all parts of this State in hollow trees. They
occasionally visit the farm-yard at night, but do not molest full-grown
poultry.
The Mottled Owl (Scops asio) is common like the last in all of North
America, and lives in similar localities. Being smaller than a pigeon
they do little or no harm — ^in fact, sometimes take up a residence in the
dove-cot without apparently IfiHi^^g any of the old birds, though a great
terror to them and all smaller kinds.
Of the Smooth-headed Owls, the Bam Owl (47. Strix pratincola)
is about equal in size to the short-eared. It is found in nearly all the
United States, and closely resembles the Bam Owls of Europe and
Australia. Though fond of bams, ravines and caverns, they often con-
tent themselves with the shelter of thick bushes, and ought to be pro-
tected, as they are found by close observation to live almost entirely on
rats and mice. They are yellowish above, pure white beneath.
The Great Gray Owl {Symium cinereum) is as large as the Great
Homed Owl, or larger, and found only in dense forests throughout the
more northern and subalpine parts of America.
The Western Barred Owl (Symium occidentale) has been found so far
only at Fort Tejon. It is marked by bars or bands of color, passing
entirely round the body like the Eastern species.
Two little species allied to these are rare in this State. They are
smaller than Pigeons, and frequent the forests, doing no harm. (60.
Nyctale Acadica, and 51. N. albi/rona.)
The Burrowing Owl (62. Athene cimicularia) is numerous and well
known, being almost diurnal in habits, and living in burrows made by
the ground squirrels, though sometimes burrowing for itself. It is of
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ZOOLOGY. 455
the size of a pigeon, and destroys many mice and insects. Alfhongli
found in western South America^ it differs from the species found east
of the Bocky Mountains, (A, hypogcecu)
The Gnome Owl (53. Glaucidium gnoma) is also partly diurnal,
only about six and a half inches long, its legs densely feathered, and
lives chiefly on insects. It inhabits only the western slope of North
America.
Whitney's Owl (Micralhene Whitneyi) is still smaller, its legs nearly
bare, and has been found so far only in the Colorado valley. Its habits,
as far as known, are like those of the last.
The Vultures, although classed with the birds of prey, are rather to
be called scavengers, as few species attack any living animals unless
diseased or helpless. They have not the talons of the other species
with which to seize prey, and their beaks are not so strong and sharp.
They are thus analogous to coyotes or jackals.
The California Vulture (55. Cathwiea Cali/omianus) is remarkable
as the largest land bird that flies north of the Andes^ where the much
larger Condor is met with. It is, however, scarcely heavier than a large
turkey, and not so wide in spread of wings as our Albatross. This fine
bird is found throughout the western slope of North America, and
abounds where herds of large animals are to be seen, soaring gener-
ally at such a height as to be almost imperceptible, until it perceives a
dead or dying animal, even at a distance of many miles, when it sweeps
rapidly down to it, and in some districts a dozen vultures gather to
the feast in a few minutes, from the distant sky, where none were
visible to human vision before. As a useful bird, this and the next
should be protected by law from reckless slaughter. This species
may be distinguished at a great height by its wings having a white
patch underneath.
The Turkey Vulture, also called Buzzard, (56. Catharies aurd)^ is
only about half the size of the other, and is named from its bare
head and neck being red, like those of a turkey. It is more common
and found in nearly all the United States.
ObDKB InSBSSOEBS— PEBOHEBa
This division of birds includes most of the smaller land species,
and may be conveniently divided into the omnivorous^ insectivorous^
and granivorous groups^ corresponding to the Cheiroptera, Insectivora,
and BoderUia of mammals. Although this arrangement is not the most
scientific, it is the most intelligible, and as nearly correct as is neces-
sary for our purpose.
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466 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA.
Oroup First — Omnivorous Perchers.
It has already been stated that many climbers are omnivorous, and
so are some of other orders. The present group comprises some lately
included among the singers, but not properly musical, unless taught
to whistle, being very imitative.
The American Baven (57. Corvus caimivorus) is a common bird in
California, especially in desert regions. It has many of the habits
of the vulture, being a scavenger, though occasionally killing small
animals for itself.
The Western Crow (53. Corvus caurinus) is a third smaller than the
raven, and more gregarious, but otherwise much resembles that bird.
It appears to differ from the eastern species.
Nuttall's, or the Yellow-billed Magpie (59. Pica Nuttdlli), is common
in the valleys west of the Sierra Nevada, and a very beautiful bird,
differing but little from that of Europe. It has the same cunning, mis-
chievous habits, and eats anything it can catch or steal. The Black-
billed Magpie {Pica Hudsonica) is probably also foimd east of the
Sierras.
Steller's Jay (60. Cyanura SteUeri) is a dark blue species, with black
head and crest, found in all the coniferous forests along this coast.
The California Jay (61. Cyanocitta Californica) is a light blue, un-
crested species, inhabiting the oak and other woods in the valleys. It
is known from the next by being white beneath.
Maximilian's Jay (62. Gymnokitta cyanocephala) is entirely dark blue,
crestless, and inhabits the juniper groves near the summits and east-
ern slopes of the Sierras, feeding on berries and anything else eatable.
The American Nutcracker, or Clark's Crow (63. Picicorvus Column
bvanvs), is a sort of Jay inhabiting the pine forests near the crests of
the Sierra and northward, feeding on their seeds, occasionally on
insects and berries. It is light gray, with black and white wings, and
very noisy, large flocks chattering through the forests.
The Canada Jay (64. Perisoreus Canadensis) is only about half the
size of the other jays, light gray like the last above, and yellowish-white
beneath. They are scarce in this State except near the summits of the
mountains, and extend north to the Arctic circle.
The Belted Kingfisher (65. Ceryle Alcyon) is abundant along this
coast and throughout the United States. It seems to feed wholly on
fish, but some foreign species eat insects and berries. It is said that
the smaller Green Kingfisher {Ceryle Americana) is found along the
Lower Colorado, as well as on the Bio Grande and southward.
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ZOOLOGY. 457
Group Second — Insectivorous Perchers.
This includes a large number of species, of which we can only men-
tion particularly the most striking or interesting.
The Flycatchers are mostly rather plain plumaged birds, living
chiefly on insects which they catch on the wing, though usually sitting
perched on some high branch or shrub, watching until their prey comes
near. The first genus comprises those called King-birds, Bee-birds,
and Tyrants. The first is black and white, the other two gray, white
and yellow — all with a red spot in the middle of the crown, and about
six inches in length. Only the first is found east of the Mississippi.
(66. Tf/rannus Carolinensis ; 67. 7! veriicalis; 68. T. vociferans). Another,
of similar habits, is smaller and plainer, without a red crown. (69.
Jfyiarchus Mexvcanus,)
Two species are of the same genus as the well-known and favorite
Pewee, or Phoebe, of the East, and similar in habits. The first, black
and white, is a constant and familiar resident about houses west of the
Sierras. The other lives in summer on their eastern side, only visiting
us in winter. It is mostly brown in color. (70. Sayomis nigricans, and
71. 8. sayus,)
Then we have a group of six small, plain species, which are scarcely
noticed except by naturalists, though each has peculiarities interesting
to the lover of nature. (72. Contopus borealis; 73. Empidonox Richards
stmii; 74 E. Traillii; 75. E. Jlaviventris ; 76. E, Hammondii; 77. E.
Dbscnrus.) One alone of the northern flycatchers has a brilliant red
color, with black wings, and this is found only along the Colorado and
southward. (78. Pyroceplmlus Mexicanus)
The Poorwill (79. Antrostomus NuitaRi) is only half as large as the
eastern WhippoorwiU, and its nocturnal cry sounds like "Poor Will,''
as if answering in a plaintive, pitying tone, the harsh command of that
bird. It is a summer visitor, and common in many wooded districts,
though oftener heard than seen, being nocturnal.
The Night Hawk (80. Chordeiles popetue) is the same species found
throughout the Atlantic States, and also visits us in summer, but
remains during that season in the northern part of the State or on high
mountains. The night hawk family has the same relation to the fly-
catchers, as have the owls to the true hawks.
The Humming-birds, those tropical gems, are more partial to our
State than any other north of Mexico, and one or two species even
spend the winter with us. All are distinct from the single species
found in the Eastern States.
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458 THE NATUBAL ^HBALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
The Pnrple-tliroated Hammer (81. TrochUus Alexandri) is green,
with the throat a brilliant violet-pnrple. It frequents the vaUeys near
the coast. The Rufous Hummer (82. Selasphorus ru/us) is fox-colored,
with the throat brilliant scarlet, and frequents only the coast and high
mountains in summer, ^oing far north of us also. The Broad-tailed
Hummer (83. Selasphorus pUxtycercus) is green, with a red throat, and
is found east of the Sierras. The Anna Hummer (84. JUhis AnncLJ is
the largest we have, green, with the entire head brilliant metallic-red.
It is common along the coast, and winters in the southern counties.
The Coast Hummer (85. Atthis costce) is found also inland to the Gila
river ; it is green, the entire head metallic-violet The Calliope Hum-
mer (86. CaUotlwrax calliope) is a little known Mexican species, found
as far north as Fort Tejon.
The females and young of all are very similar to each other, metallic-
green, without the more brilliant feathers of the head or throat They
aU eat small insects as well as suck honey from flowers.
The Swallows are numerous in species and individuals, forming two
groups, one plain, the other quite varied in plumage. The first are
also aUied to the hummers in anatomical characters. They are called
** swifts," and "chimney swallows," although none of them among us
inhabit chimneys, but prefer lonely forests or rocky cliffs, where little
of their habits has yet been observed. (87. Panyptila mdanoleuca,
88. Nephoccetes niger, 89. Chcetura Vauxii.)
Of the true swallows we have seven species. The Bank Swallows
(90. Cotyle riparia^ and 91. C. serripennis) are plain brown and white
little birds, nestling in holes burrowed in sand-banks, and found also
eastward. The Bam Swallow (92. Hirundo horreorum) is well known
as an inhabitant of the entire country.
The Cliff Swallow (93. H, lunt/rons) is much more abundant here,
and its bottle-shaped nests of mud are built in every favorable situa-
tion throughout the warm parts of the State.
The Bicolored Swallow, (94. H. bicolor), dark-green above, white
below, is also common, building in knot-holes^ bird houses, and other
similar places, and some remain in this State throughout the year.
The Sea-green Swallow (95. H. thalassina) is a small kind, varied
with rich green, purple, black and white, frequenting the oak groves,
and not found in the East
The Purple Martin (96. Progne purpurea) is a large and beautiful
swallow, common in summer in all the interior of the State, where it
shows the same familiar disposition, and gives us the same musical
notes as in the Atlantic States.
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ZOOLOGY. 459
The Waxwing (97. Ampdia garrxdus) is a beautifal bird, fonnd
throughout Northern America and Europe, but rare in this State as
far as known. The smaller species, often called Cedar-bird, or Cherry-
bird (98. Ampdia cedrorurn) is common in the regions where berries
abound, and is increasing in numbers as the small fruits are more cul-
tivated, though living in great part on insects also. It is very similar
to the preceding, but smaller, and when fat considered very good eating.
Two birds allied to these, and peculiar to this coast, deserve notice.
The Shining Flycatcher (99. Phainopepla nUeiis) is a beautiful steel-
blue-black species, found along the Colorado and Sierras, possessing
some melody of song, unlike the waxwings.
Townsend's Flycatcher (100. Myiadedea Totonaendit) should be
called a nightingale, on account of its charming song, and resembles
that celebrated bird in its plain brownish plumage, varied with white.
It seems to frequent chiefly the juniper groves on the eastern flanks of
the Sierras, occasionally appearing on their western side. It resem-
bles in appearance the king-birds.
The Shrikes, or Butcher-birds, are of two species. The Northern,
(101. Laniua bor€dlis\ found also in the northeastern States in winter,
is very much like the mocking-bird in general appearance, but has
little melody, and is notable as the most rapacious of our insectivorous
birds, killing even mice and sparrows, which it either eats, or leaves
suspended on a thorn or branch until wanted. The Western Shrike
(102. L. excubUoroides) is a common resident throughout the State, and
is often seen perched on a telegraph-pole or wire, watching for grass-
hoppers or young mice.
The Greenlets, or Yireos, seem to come nearest to the shrikes,
though quite different in plumage, being more or less olivaceous,
yellow, and white. We have three or four small species, difficult to
distinguish from Eastern kinds, but all easily known to the field natu-
ralist, by the differences in their melodious songs. They live entirely
in the groves, each preferring peculiar kinds of trees, feeding on
insects and berries. (103. Vireo Stvainsonii, 104 V. aolUarius, 105.
V. HuiUytii, 106. V. pimUus).
The Tanagers are among our most brilliant plumaged songsters.
The Summer Tanager (107. Pyranga ceativa), common in the Atlantic
States in summer, is also found in the Colorado valley. The male is
entirely brilliant red; the female olive.
The Western Tanager (108. Pyranga Ludoviciana) is yeUow, wings
and back black, head red; the female entirely yellowish. This ^>ecies
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460 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
spends the summer in this State and northward, and is brilliant both
in plumage and song.
The Yellow-breasted Chat (109. Ideria hngicatida) is olive-green
above, yellow beneath. It scarcely differs from a common Eastern
species, and is one of our finest songsters, frequenting river banks and
thickets, where it sings in summer both by day and night, often flying
at the same time with antic jerks and odd notes, as if it held the place
of buffoon among the small birds.
Twelve small species follow, known by the general name of War-
blers, and as only those who have the desire and means of observing
them closely, can know the many interesting facts connected with the
variations 6i their beautiful plumage, the sweetness of their songs and
the details of their habits, we must limit tliis notice to the names by
which further information may be obtained from other authors. (110.
Geothlypis trichas; 111. G. MacgiUivrayi ; 112. HdminthopJiaga celaia;
113. H, ruficapiUa; 114. H, Lucice; 115. Dendrceca occidentaiva ; 116.
D. nigresceiis ; 117. D, cororiata; 118. D. Audfibonii; 119. D. cestiva;
120. D, Toiomendii; 121. Myiodioctes pusiUus.) Numbers 110, 112,
113, 117, 119 and 121 are found also in the Atlantic States.
The American Titlark (122. ArUhus Ludovicianus) is a little bird of
plain brownish plumage, visiting the whole United States in winter;
to be seen running along roads, water-courses, and roofs of houses,
even in the cities, pursuing insects, and constantly jerking its taiL In
its far northern summer resort it is said to show fair musical powers in
the spring. .
The Water Ousel (123. HydrobcUa Mexicana) is a very curious bird,
little larger than a sparrow, entirely slate color and with a short tail,
which lives on the shores of mountain torrents and feeds on water
insects, which it obtains by diving, swimming, walking or flying, under
water. Though not web-footed, it shows more power of locomotion in
this element than many truly aquatic birds, and has besides a sweet
song usually uttered during spring, as the male sits on some rock in
the brook, and the female is perhaps on its nest. This is built entirely
of mosses, generally under a dam or rill where the water trickles over
the rooi^ keeping the nest green and thus concealed. The Thrush
family, of which the Ousel is one, furnishes us with several other
species.
The Bobin-Thrush (124 Turdua migrcUorius) though resembling the
European robin only in its red breast, has also become a favorite in
America. It is well known as a good singer, familiar and harmless in
habits, and unfortunately is considered good eating in winter. With
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ZOOLOGY. 461
Bs it spends the summer in the wooded mountains, but wanders in
winter throughout the State.
The ** Oregon Robin," (125. Tardus ruBvius), much more beautiful,
but an inferior singer, is only a winter visitor to California. It is of
a fine, clear gray above, the breast orange-brown, with a black belt,
two orange stripes on the head, and two on each wing.
Two smaller and plain brown Thrushes, with spotted breasts, are
common here, the first only in our northern counties, in winter ; the
second, smaller, and a constant resident Both have a loud ringing
bell -like song, without variety, but enlivening the woods in which they
live. (126. Tardus mUdatus, 127. T nanus.)
Tlie Western Bluebird (128. Sialia Mexicana) is dark-blue, with the
middle of back and breast chestnut, and is the common kind at all
seasons in the lower districts. The Arctic Bluebird (129. Sialia arc-
tica) is entirely sky-blue, and lives during summer about the sum-
mits of the Sierras, visiting the coast only in winter. The bluebirds
are, like the closely allied species of the East, great favorites, both on
account of their beauty and song, being also very familiar if encour-
aged to build a nest about the house.
The Kinglets are the smallest of our birds, next to the Hummers,
and like the Kingbirds, have a brilliant spot on the crown of the head.
The Golden-crowned (130. Begulns Sairapa) is found only in the high
Sierras in summer, though common in winter in the colder Atlantic
States. The Buby-crowned (131. Regvlus calendula) is abundant in
winter throughout this State, but retires to cooler regions in summer.
This also is a common Eastern winter bird.
Between these and the true Wrens, we have a group of Thrush-like
birds, generally plain in plumage, but containing some of the finest
songsters in the whole feathered race.
The famous Mocking-bird (132. Mimus polyglottus) is represented
here by a form scarcely distinct, but with a longer tail than the Eastern
bird. It has the same plumage, and the same brilliant variety of song.
It is found only in the southern counties, and remains there in winter.
The Bow-billed Thrushes, often called false Mocking-birds, come
nearest to the Eastern Brown Thrush in appearance and melody; but
our three species are uniform brown or gray, without spots on the
breast. The only one common west of the Sierras is the first next
mentioned, and this frequents dense thickets at all seasons, singing
in spring with considerable melody and imitative powers. The other
two are found in the Colorado valley and neighboring deserts, where
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462 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNLL
they have precisely the same habits and sing similarly. (133. Harpor-
hynchus redivivua; 134 H, crxBScdia; 135. H, Lecontii.)
The Mountain Mocking-bird (136. Oreoscoptea 7nonta/au8) is like the
common mocker, but with a spotted breast, and is smaller. It is nearly
equal in melody, and is confined to the southern and eastern parts of
this State, extending to the Bocky Mountains.
The Cactus- Wren (137. Campylorhynchua brunneicapiUus) is a link
between the mockers and true wrens, but has only a few loud-ringing
notes, which enliven the barren cactus thickets which it inhabits in the
southern counties. It builds a large and curious nest, woven of grasses
in the shape of a sleeve, and laid horizontally on the cactus bush. It
is brown, the breast white and spotted.
Of the Wrens proper, little brown birds, with various black and
white markings, inhabiting hollow trees, buildings, rocks, etc., we
have eight species, all presenting curious and interesting variations of
song and habits which cannot be detailed in this brief summary. They
are called, from the chief peculiarities of each, Mexican, Bock, Wood,
Marsh, House, Winter and Ground-Wrens. (139. Catherpes Mexicanus;
140. Scdjyincies obscldus; 141. ThryotJuynis Bewicfdi; 142. Cistothorus
palustris; 143. Troglodytes Parhrnanni ; 144. T, hyemalia; 145. ChamcBa
fasdalou) The third, fourth and sixth are also found in the Eastern
States; the others are more or less diffused through California.
The American Creeper (146. Certhia Americana) is a curious little
wren-like bird which lives only in the forest, chiefly northward, climb-
ing up and down the trunks of large trees, from which it can scarcely
be distinguished in color when at rest, and utters only a shrill, wiry cry.
The Nuthatches are little birds, blue above, white or reddish
beneath, and similar to the creeper in habits. Three species live in
this State, the first also found eastward. (147. SiUa CanadensiSy 148.
8* aculeata, 149. 8. pygmcea,)
The Titmice are also very small, like miniature jays in appearance,
and of various plumage. Three little leaden-blue kinds, with black
and white tails, frequent low bushes in summer, with the habits of
warblers, but little song. The first species is found also eastward, the
others are limited to our southern and eastern counties. (150. Poliop-
tila cceruleOy 151. P. mdanura, 152. P. plumbed). The Plain Titmouse
is a little gray-crested bird inhabiting the oak groves, and having con-
siderable imitative melody. (153. Lophophanea inorruUus).
The '* Chickadees," well known by their note, resembling this name
in sound, are little gray birds, with black caps or stripes on the head,
found in the mountain regions, and all distinct from the Eastern and
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European species of very similar plumage. (154 PcecUa occidentalism
165. F. montamiSf 156. P. nt/esceiw).
The Least Titmouse (157. PsaKripants minimus) is a curious bird,
scarcely larger than a htunmer, but with a long tail for its size, and
short wings, its color plain grayish brown. They inhabit oak groves^
going in flocks from tree to tree in search of insects or seeds. The
nest is extraordinary for the bird, being a foot long, composed of
mosses chiefly, and suspended from a branch, the entrance being in
the side.
The Tellow-headed Titmouse (158. Auriparus flavicepa) is a more
gay plumaged little bird, inhabiting the Colorado valley, and south-
ward. It also builds a large and curious nest of thorny twigs, laid flat
on a brancli, and with a hole in the side.
The Shore-Lark (159. EremophUa comiUa) is a pretty little bird,
brown, with yellow forehead and throat, sometimes called homed lark,
from long erectile tufts over the eyes. It is common at all seasons in
the open plains and fields, and in spring sings sweetly while flying
high in the air, like the European sky-lark. It is entirely a ground
bird, never alighting on trees» and is found throughout North America.
The Meadow-Lark (160. StumeUa neglecta) scarcely differs from
the Eastern bird of same name. It is as large as a dove, mottled with
brown, white, and black above, its breast yellow. Scarcely a grassy
field or plain can be found in this State without them, and they are
shot in considerable numbers on account of their size, and white,
though tasteless flesh. Their sweet but brief songs are heard at all
seasons where they abound.
The Western Oriole (161. Icteraa BuUockii) is a very beautiful bird,
brilliant orange, with black back and wings, the latter with a white
patch. They are numerous in summer in every grove, and their songs
are among the finest and almost constantly to be heard, while their
preference for the vicinity of houses, harmlessness and beauty, make
them as great favorites as their Eastern cousins. They build beau-
tiful hanging nests.
The Hooded Oriole (162. Icterus cucuUahis) is found only in our
most southern counties and in Mexico. It resembles the preceding
in song and habits, but is not so brilliant in plumage.
The Yellow-headed Blackbird (163. Xanthocephalus iderocephalus)
is a large species found only west of the Mississippi, the male black,
with yellow head and a white patch on the wing ; the females plainer.
They are gregarious, associating in large flocks, chiefly on the interior
plains, and sometimes taking their pay for the grubs they destroy by
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464 THE NATURAL "WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
eating a little grain. Their notes are harsh, and they are generally of
little interest
The Redwing Blackbirds are of three species, only the first of which
is found in the East. The males are very much alike, differing chiefly
in the red patch on the shoulder, which, in the first is edged with yel-
low, in the second with white, in the third entirely red, the rest of their
plumage being black. The females are brownish. They frequent the
inland marshes in immense flocks, and are more or less common about
every wet tract, sometimes committing considerable depredations on
grain fields, though at most seasons they live chiefly on insects. Their
songs are very similar, without much melody, and they are deemed
rather poor eating. (164 Agdaiua phceniceus; 165. A. ti*ic6lor ; 166.
A, gubernator,)
The Purple-headed Blackbird (167. Scolecophagus cyanocephalus) is
greenish black, the male with the head shining purplish ; the females
brownish. They are the most common species in the drier parts of the
State, but associate with the other blackbirds, and are found every-
where. They accompany cattle in the fields, and follow the plough to
pick up grubs, etc. They have a rather harsh song, which, however,
sounds well when they sing in concert.
The Cow-Blackbird (168. Moloihrus pecoris) is the same species found
throughout the United States, but on this coast is less common, and
keeps away from the sea-shore. It is well known from the peculiar
habit of the female, a plain brown bird, of lajdng its eggs only in other
bird's nests, never building itself, thus resembling the European Cuc-
koo. The male is black with purplish tints, the head and neck sooty-
brown. It is the smallest of our species, and prefers the society of
cattle, frequenting the trains crossing the plains in great flocks. Its
song is harsh and unmusicaL
We now come to the granivorous birds, known by a short, conical
bill. The last named has nearly this form of bill, and indeed, nearly
all after the Wrens eat seeds more or less, though not so exclusively as
the following, and are sometimes called omnivorous.
Group Third — Granivorous Percliers.
These are the birds which, on account of their living so much on
seeds, are most easily kept in cages, though some of the preceding
group surpass them as singers. They are divisible in this country into
two nearly equal series, the first notable for variety of coloring in the
males, the second of very plain species.
The Pipilosj often called Chewinks and "Ground Bobins^" have
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ZOOLOGY. 465
somewhat the form of the Molothrus. Two species are black, with
breast and sides reddish, wings and tail spotted white, frequenting low
bnshes and oak groves, the second northward. (169. Pipilo megalonyx;
170. P. Oregonm.) Two others are plain brown, the second with black
about the eyes, and found only east of the Sierra, while the first is
common west of them. (171. Pipilo fuscus ; 172. P, Abertii) The fifth
species is grayish, with green wings and tail, and frequents the high
Sierras in summer, (Pipilo chlorurus,) None of them are very musical
or otherwise important
Tlie Blue Linnet (174 Cyanospiza amoena) is a beautiful little species,
the male light blue, red, black and white; the female flax-brown. It is
a common summer visitor, quite musical, and often kept in cages. It
is the western representative of the Eastern Indigo-bird.
The Blue Grosbeak (175. Gniraca ccervled) is twice as large as the
last, the male entirely rich deep blue, and a common summer resident
in the interior, where they are sometimes kept in cages on account of
their beauty and song.
The Black-headed Grosbeak (176. Guiraca mdanocephcda) is a hand-
some bird, varied with black, brown and yellow, abundant near the
coast, and oftener kept in cages than the last, its song being a very
loud and clear whistle.
The Evening Grosbeak (177. Hesperiphona vespertina) is a very
beautiful species, yellow, white and black, inhabiting chiefly the high
mountains and tops of lofty trees. Its name is derived from its habit
of singing very melodiously in the evening and at night, though from
its retiring habits it has not yet been made a cage bird to our knowledge.
The Pine Grosbeak (178. Pinicola Canadensis) is a species of a
splendid purple when mature, inhabiting lofty pine forests near the
summits of the mountains, and northward, occasionally visiting the
Eastern States in winter. It has been kept in cages and found to be a
fine singer.
The Bed Linnets, or Purple Finches, are smaller species common
in various districts of this State, the first chiefly in the mountains, the
second on the eastern slope of the Sierras, the third in the valleys.
They are all good singers, and often kept in cages, the last especially;
where, however, the fine purple-red of the males frequently changes
to yellow. (179. Carpodacus Cali/omicus ; 180. C. Cassinii; 181. C.
frontalis.)
The American Crossbill (182. Cmvirostra Americana) is a curious
bird also found eastward, in which the ends of the mandibles cross
each other as if deformed, though this is intended to assist them in
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466 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIPORNIA.
twisting off the scales of the cones to get at the seeds. They frequent
the higher pine forests in large flocks, and have considerable melody
of song.
The Tellow-birds, or Thistle-birds, are pretty little species, the
first of which is also common in the East, and frequently caged,
having nearly the musical powers of the Canary. The other two are
smaller, the yellow darker and varied with black or gray. Their songs
are similar, but weaker. All these frequent the open districts of this
State in large flocks, though the first is most common northward. (183.
Chrysomitris tristis ; 184. C. psdUria; 185. C. LatorenoiL) Another
plainer species lives entirely on seeds of alder, etc., chiefly northward.
(186. C. pinvs,)
The plainer colored Sparrows attract littie attention, and are usually
confounded by observers, some indeed requiring close comparison to
be distinguished by naturalists, but many have sweet songs and inter-
esting biographies, like the equally plain flycatchers and warblers.
Some need particular mention.
The Lark Finch (187. Chondestes grammacd) is an abundant species
in the colder months, and in spring the males sing delightfully. The
most peculiar marks they have, are three brown stripes on the head.
The Gold-crowned Sparrow (188. Zonotrichia coronata) has a lai^e
spot of yellow on top of the head. It is also a good singer in spring.
The White-crowned Sparrow (189. Zonotrichia GambeUi) is much
more abundant, and may be recognized by three broad white stripes
on its head. It has a rather plaintive but very sweet song, and is
found in all parts of the State.
The Song Sparrows we have of four or five species, all of plain
brown colors with spotted breasts. They are sweet singers, and very
domestic, never wandering far from the place of their birth in the
garden or thicket (190. Mdoapim nifina; 191. if. Hermanni; 192. M.
Gouldii; 193. Mfcdlax; 194 M, Lincdnii). The last named, however,
is less musical and is migratory. ^
The other species must be enumerated without further notice, as
they are not of special interest, or little is known of their habits.
Some of these, however, will be found fully detailed in works on our
birds. (195. Passercuius Sandwichensis ; 196. P. anihinm ; 197. P.
aUmdinus; 198. P. rostrattis; 199. Pocecdes gramineus; 200. Ammodromus
Samudis; 201. Coturnicultis passerinvs; 202. Junco Oregonxis; 203. Poos-
pirn bUinecUa; 204 P. PeKi; 205. SpizeOa socialis; 206. S. Brewed; 207.
Peuccea ruficeps; 208. PassereUa Townaendii; 207. P. megarhynchus)
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ZOOLOGY. 467
Obdeb Piriii^ASTiuB — PioBOKS, Etc.
The only species we have of this order are Pigeons and Doves, but
the Guans, Cnrassows, and the extinct Dodo belong to it, while others
are found in the tropics.
The Band-tailed Pigeon (210. Colimibafascicdxi) is a larger species
than the common domestic kind, but similar in form, and of a slaty
gray color with a purplish breasi It is abundant in the wooded parts
of California^ and affords good sport as well as excellent food. It is
not found on the eastern side of the continent.
The Carolina Dove, better known here as the Turtle-dove (211. Zefr^
aidura CaroUjiensis) is a smaller species, with a long pointed tail, com-
mon in all the United States, and often shot for its delicately flavored
meat.
The Ground Dove (212. Ckamcepdia passerina) is a very small and
pretty kind, not larger than a sparrow, found in the southern Atlantic
States, Mexico, and in this State, in the Colorado valley.
OrDEB KASOBES — SCBATCHIXa BiBDS.
These birds, represented by the domestic fowls^ are well known as
very useful to mankind. We have eight species in this State, known
as grouse and quails, or sometimes partridges.
The Blue Grouse (213. Iktrao obscurus) iS a large species^ equal to
the largest domestic hen, of a slaty blue color when mature, the young
mottled. They are found in the coast mountains north of San Fran-
cisco bay, and in the Sierra Nevada, coming down lower and being
more common as we go north. Living usually in thick forests, they
are difficult to kill, but often furnish good sport and good eating.
Many are brought to market in winter.
The Sage-fowl (214 Centrocercua uropJumanus) is a fine species, the
male as large as a hen tuikey, with long pointed tail, and plumage
beautifully varied with gray, brown, black, and white. They are foimd
only in the dry regions east of the Sierra Nevada, and are brought to
the markets of Virginia City, etc. They are splendid game-birds, and
when properly prepared, excellent eating.
The Sharp-tailed Grouse, or Prairie-Hen, (215. Fediocoetea Coktm-
bianus), is a species the size of the common hen, of a yellowish brown
mottled color, its tail short and sharp-pointed. It is found in this
State, only in the northeastern part, but abounds from thence east to
the prairies of Illinois, where it is often confounded with the Pinnated
Grouse. Keeping in much larger flocks than the Sage Fowl, and fre-
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468 THE KATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBSilA.
qnentiiig open meadowa^ gnm fields, etc., it is an excellent game4)iTd,
and yery soperior tor the table. Attempts are being made to introdooe
it west of the Sierra NoTada.
The Ba£EiBd Oronse, often called Pheasant and Partridge, (216. A>-
iHua Sabinii), is a beautiful species, very similar to that so called in the
East, with a similar raff of black feathers on the neck, and a band on
the tail, but much darker brown. It is found in this State only towards
the line of Or^on, liiing in the woods^ and is considered a fine game-
bird in every sense.
The Mountain Quail (217. Oreoriyx pidus) is one of the most beau-
tiful of our birds, ashy gray, the sides striped with reddish chestnut^
with patches of the same on throat and breast, and a crest of long, nar-
row feathers turned bo/daoarda on top of the head. It inhabits the
higher parts of the mountains, chiefly in the northern half of the States
and is a favorite game-bird where it is found.
The California or Valley Quail (218. Lophorfyx Cali/omica) is some-
what similar in plumage, but has the forehead yellow, throat black, the
erest shorter and turned fonvord at the ends of the feathers. It is the
common species in all the lower r^on west of the Sierra Nevada, and
much prized both by the sportsman and epicure.
GhunbePs Quail (219. Lophortyx CtambdLi) is a very similar species,
found on the east side of the Sierra Nevada, and in Arizona.
All these are of about the same size, (the first a little the largest,)
and in this fact only, resemble the Quail of the Atlantic States or the
Partridge of Europe, but otherwise aU are quite distinct birds^ only
confounded in popular language on accoimt of the want of distinctive
names.
Obdxb GbaiiIiaiobbs— Wadebs.
These birds form a natural link between the land and water birds,
some of them being usually considered as of the latter group, on account
of their partially webbed feet and power of swimming. Nearly all these
birds are eaten, though some of them are rather fishy, and others have
a marshy flavor.
The Brown or Sand-hill Crane (220. Orus Canadenais) is abundant
in the colder months in our valleys, and a few breed in the mountains.
When young, and especially if caught alive and fattened, they are
nearly equal to the turkey for the table. Being easily tamed when
raised from the nesiL they are often kept as pets and allowed to run at
large. Their food consists in part of roots and plants, unlike that of
the similar Herons, which eat fish chiefly. Their height, when stand-
ing, is nearly five feet
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ZOOLOGY. 4S9
The Great Bine Heron (221. Ardea herodiaa) is common abont eyeiy
stream or body of water in this State, and at all seasons where unmo-
lested. Being very shy they are not often killed^ and are usually fishy,
though young ones are pretty good eating. They are nearly as tall as
the Brown Crane, but lighter.
The Great White Heron (222. HerocKas EgreUa) is nearly as large as
the Blue Heron, and snowy white, with blaok bill It is common but
Tery shy, and killed only for its fino plumed. It is about three and a
half feet high when standing.
The Little White Heron (223. GarzeUa aiivUcKmina) is about a third
of the size of the last, or two feet high. They are more gregarious
than the large kinds, and even more shy. They also have beautiful
plumes, but are of no value for any other reason.
The Night-Heron, or Qua-bird {Nyciiardea Oardent), is a beautiful
bird, dark green above, whitish beneath, wings and tail grayish blue^
with three long narrow feathers hanging from the back of the head.
The young is grayish, mottled brown, and without the plumes. It is
common in summer, but usually concealed during the day in thick
woods or shady ravines, going out about sunset to fish in shallow fresih
waters. Though rather fishy, they are often eaten. Their height, when
standing, is a little over two feei
The American Bittern (225. Boiavrua lentigincsua) is a mottled brown
and yellowish bird, frequenting grassy marshes, and also quite noc-
turnal in habits, though often startled from its retreat in the daytime.
It is considered pretty good eating, and often called Marsh Hen, being
about the size of a thin fowl in the body, but nearly two feet in height.
The Green Heron, or Mud-poke (226. Butoridea virescens), is a hand-
somely variegated green bird, standing a foot and a half high, fre-
quenting chiefly the banks of running streams. It is rarely eaten.
The Least Heron, or Bittern (227. ArdeUa eccUia), is also varied with
dark green, chestnut) gray, etc., and is little over a foot high, very
slender, weighing only four or five ounces. They frequent chiefly the
grassy borders of ponds or rivulets.
The Wood-Ibis (228. IhrUalus loculator) is called ** Colorado Tui^
key " in this State, and '^ Gannet " in Florida, though very unlike eith^
of these birds, a striking instance of the uncertainty of popular names.
It is a white bird with black wings, nearly five feet high, and weighs
over ten pounds. They are said to be very tough and oily, though
eaten when skinned, in the absence of better food. In this State they
are confined to the lower Colorado valley, but inhabit also the Southern
Atlantic States, as do all the preceding waders.
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470 THE NATURAL YTEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
The Glossy Ibis (229. Ibis Ordii) is a beautiful bird, reddish choco-
late, with green and purple wings, closely resembling the I^yptian
sacred Ibis. The young has the head and neck grayish. It is not rare
in the extensive marshes of this State in summer, and often shot and
sold by the name of " Black Curlew," being pretty good eating. It is
about two feet in height, and as heavy as a hen.
Of the Plover family there are several species, three of which are
from the size of a dove to that of a pigeon, and therefore considered
game, though the others are sometimes shot and eaten. All are
usually fat and very good eating.
The Swiss, or Black-bellied Plover, (230. Squodarola Helvetica), is
{he largest, and frequents the sea-shore in small flocks in winter. It
is not so good as those found inland. It is also found on nearly all
nea-coasts.
The Oolden Plover (231. Charadrius Viryinicua) is nearly as large,
and beautifully spotted with small round yellow dots, which are want-
ing in winter, the whole bird being then of a light gray. They chiefly
frequent grassy plains in large flocks, and are also common in the
Eastern States.
The Mountain Plover (232. JEgicdilts montanus) is a smaller,
brownish-gray bird, found only west of the Mississippi, frequenting
the dry plains in summer, in pairs or broods, and in winter coming west
of the Sierra Nevada, especially southward, where they form large
flocks. As game, they are very similar to the last, and usually very &t
The Killdeer (233. JEgialvtis vociferus) is a pretty bird, frequenting
brook-sides, very unsuspicious, and often noisy, its name being derived
from its common note. It is scarcely a game bird. There are two
other little species found along the sea shore, the first in winter, the
second constantly. They are not larger than blackbirds, and not often
shot unless in flocks of sand-pipers. The first is called Bing Plover,
the second Snowy Plover, and both are prettily marked about the head.
(234 JEgicdiiia semipcdmcUuSf and 235. jE, nivosa). The Surf-bird
(236. Aphrbea virgaia) is a rare and little known species, found on
rocky coasts among the foam of the waves in winter. It is more prop-
erly a bird of the Sandwich Islands and South America.
The Oyster-Catchers are rather larger than pigeons, and our two
species are black with red bills, the first with red feet> the second
white beneath. They are not very common, but found along rocky or
sandy shores, where they feed on shell-fish, the bill being flattened
like an oyster-knife for the purpose of opening the shells. (237.
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ZOOLOGY. 471
HcemaUypus niger, and 238. H. paUicUua). The last is also found on
the Atlantic coast.
The Turnstones are similar, but not half as large, and in summer
plumage much varied in colors, but here usuaUy found only black and
white. They chiefly frequent the rocky sea coasts, and are good eat-
ing, though rarely killed. (239. StrepsUaa interpres, and 240. S. mdan-
ocephalus). The first is also common eastward, and on the old con-
tinent..
The Avocet (241. Becurvirostra Americana) is nearly all white, with
black patches on the back. It is sometimes called White Curlew, but
its bill turns up instead of downwards. It frequents shallow pools
away from the coast, and is often killed in large numbers, being nearly
as heavy as a quail, though slender, and over a foot in heighi
The Black-necked Stilt (242. Himantopua mgricoUis) is nearly as
tall as the last, but remarkably slender in all parts, its body not
weighing half as much. It is rather rare and solitary in habits, fre-
quenting the borders of clear water, chiefly inland.
The Snipe family may be distinguished from the preceding long-
billed and small waders by being of a mottled brown, black, and
yellowish pattern of colors. The American Snipe (243. Gallinago WiU
sonix) is usually called "English," but differs from any species of the
old continent. It frequents the soft marshes and fields in great num-
bers in the colder months, and affords excellent sport to the gunner,
besides being the best small game-bird for the table. They weigh
about three oimces.
The Long-billed and Robin Snipes do not differ much in plumage,
but the fiirst is the largest, and more partial to fresh water ponds, while
the latter frequents salt marshes, often in large fiocks. They are both
shot for market, though inferior to the preceding as food. (244. Mac-
roramphus scoloj^aceus ; and, 245. S. grtseus.)
There are several little species of Sandpipers, from the size of the
preceding down to that of a Sparrow, which much resemble each other
while visiting us in the colder months, and are usually confounded by
gunners as various ages of one species, though differing much both in
anatomical characters and in summer plumage. They frequent chiefly
the brackish marshes near the seashore, and are shot in large numbers,
from ten to fifty being killed at one shot, so densely do they fly, several
species usuaUy together. The first and largest is distinguished as Jack-^
Snipe, the others often called Sand-Snipe. The last has only three
toes on each foot, like the Plovers. (246. Actodromaa Tnacidata; 247.
A minxdiUa; 248. Fdidna Americana; 249. JEreunetea ocdderdalia; 250.
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472 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
Calidris arenaria.) All of this family are also found in the Atlantie
States, and some also inland, especially Nos. 243, 244, 246.
The Willet (250. Symphemia semipcdmaia) is a large bird, about
equal in size to a Pigeon, gray, wiih white and black wings. It fre-
quents bays, and is brought to market, although inferior to many other
birds as food. It is found in all parts of America.
The Yellow-legs (252. GambeUa mdanoleuca) is nearly as large, and
thickly spotted with white. It is more solitary, but found in all marshy
places, where its vigilant whistle often alarms other birds and brings
on it the gunner's vengeance, thou^ it is a poor bird for the table. It
is also called Tell-tale, Tattler, and Stone-Snipe.
We have also three smaller species, ranging from the size of a Jay
to that of a Sparrow, and usually found solitary, or in small families.
The firajt frequents only the rocky shores and islands of the Pacific.
The other two are found about fresh waters throughout North America.
(253. Heteroscdus brevipea; 254, BhydcophUvs solUarius; 255. Tringoi-
des mactdarius.)
The Buff-breasted Snipe, or "Grass Plover," (256. Tryngitea rufes-
cens), is found throughout America and Europe, chiefly in grassy, and
often dry places. It is like a short-billed Snipe, as large as a Dove,
and though solitary, a good game-bird.
The Godwit, (257. Llmosa fedoa) is often confounded with the Cur-
lews» which it resembles in colors, but has the bill turned upwards. It
is of the size of a Pigeon, and frequents chiefly the seashore of the
whole western continent. It is eighteen or twenty inches long, (the
bill four to five), and is a good game-bird.
The Long-billed Curlew (258. Numenius hngirostris) is the largest of
the Snipe family, measuring eighteen inches without the bill, which is
seven to nine inches long, and sometimes weighing nearly two pounds.
They frequent the mud-flats, and also the grassy plains of the interior,
feeding there on grasshoppers, and are considered among our best game-
birds. This species is found throughout the United States.
A smaller Curlew (259. Numeniua Hudsonicus) is found occasionally,
migrating along our coast in spring and fall, as they do along the east-
em coast. They are a third smaller, weighing about one pound.
The Phalaropes are little snipe-like birds, with lobed webs along the
margins of the toes, and able to swim actively, as they do, both along
the sea-shore in little lagoons, or far out at sea^ where their ]presence
often misleads the mariner to suppose that land is near. They visit us
only in winter, though one species is supposed to si>end the summer
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ZOOLOGY. 473
about OTir monniain lakes. (260. Phalaropus hyperboreus; 261. P. /vli-
carius; 261. P. Wilsonii?)
The American Gallinule (263. GaUinvla galeaUx) is a marsh bird,
allied to the Kails, about fourteen inches long, and olive-colored above;
head, neck and body gray ; bill and eye red ; legs greenish yellow.
They are not so common here as in the southern Atlantic States. Like
the following larger Kails, they are often called Marsh-hens. ^
The Greater, or King-Kail, (264. BaUus degans), is common in the
fresli or brackish marshes of this State, as well as across this continent.
They are killed for market in lai^e numbers, and considered good food,
although inferior to the smaller species. They measure eighteen or
nineteen inches in length, and weigh one to one and a half pounds.
The Clapper-Kail, (265. BaUua crepUan8\ is a very similar, but
smaller species, frequenting only the salt marshes. It is fourteen or
fifteen inches long, and weighs eight or ten ouncea
The Virginia Kail (266. BaUtis Vlrginianua) is like a miniature of the
first, and is also foimd throughout the United States in similar places.
They measure nine to ten and a half inches, and are very good eating,
but not anywhere numerous.
The Carolina Kail, or Sora (267. Portarta Carolina)^ is smaller than
the last, and with a black stripe from the crown of the head down the
throat to the breast (wanting in the female), back brown, grayish
beneath. In the Atlantic States it is a favorite game-bird, but has not
yet become so here, where so many larger birds are common.
The Yellow Kail (268. Pormna Noveboracerma) still smaller, is also
found across the continent, but more rarely obtained, and not of much
interest.
The Black, or Jamaica Kail (269. Ponana Jamaicenaia) is a curious
species, little larger than a sparrow, beautifully dotted with white. It
rarely flies, but creeps through the long marsh-grasses, and is rarely
obtained except when driven out by high tides or caught by a dog.
The American Coot (270. Fulica Americana), often called Mud-hen,
is a slaty-blue, duck-like bird, very numerous throughout the United
States, but not much eaten, though chiefly a vegetable eater. They
are, therefore, very tame and unsuspicious, frequenting every pond and
marsh at times. They weigh about a pound, have shorter necks and
legs than the Kails, and are remarkable for having broad lobes, like
webs, along the edges of the toes, enabling them to swim as well as run,
thus forming a link with the Water Birds.
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474 THE KATUEAL STEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
water bibds.
Obdeb Natatobbs^Swimmebs.
Of these we have nearly ninety species, most of them found only
on or near the salt waters. They are all connected together by the fact
of being' web-footed, although this does not form a natural division
any more than it would among Mammals.
The Swans are of two species, the first a third larger than the other,
but are nearly alike in their snowy plumage. A few are killed every
winter as far south as San Francisco. They are not considered equal
to the geese for the table. (271. Cygnua hxiccinatcr; 272. (7. Americanus.)
The latter only is found on the Atlantic side.
The Snow G^ese are also of two species, differing chiefly in size,
and are both white with black quills. The first and larger kind is
numerous in the colder months, both along the coast and inland, but
they are not considered so good for the table as the brant. (273.
Anser hyperboreus; 274. A. albatna,)
The Black-bellied Goose (275. Anser ChmbeUii) is a gray species
with reddish bill and orange feet. It is less aquatic than the rest, feed-
ing more on grass, and probably the best of all for the table. They
weigh four to five pounds, and are more common here than near the
Atlantic.
The Canada Goose, or Brant .(276. Bemida Canadensis) is a large
species, often tamed, and well known in captivity by the white patch
on its cheeks. It is commoner toward the north and eastward, but
rarely seen on salt water, and is the largest of our species, often
weighing seven pounds. Some are believed to nest about our moun-
tain lakes. Hutchins' Brant (277. Bernicla JSuichinsii) is like a minia-
ture of the last, having even the white patch on each side of the head,
and is much more common here, while the case is reversed on the
Atlantic coast. It is of about the same size and weight as the Anser
Oambelii. The Bing-necked Brant (275. Bemida leucopareia) is a very
similar species, with a white ring around the base of its neck, and
probably a visitor here from Asia, being rare.
The Black Brant (279. Bemida nigricans) is entirely black, except
the rump, and a narrow ring round the middle of the neck. It is
entirely a salt-water species while here, living on grasses, etc., in the
bays, not often killed, and very rare along the Atlantic coast. It is
jnuch smaller than the last.
The Tree-Goose, (280. Dendrocygna/ulva), tmlike most of the others.
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SSOOLOOT. 475
is a southern species, visiting us in summer, and breeding in small
numbers on the interior marshes. They resemble long-legged brown
ducks, and are of the size of the Mallard.
The Mallard (281. Anas boschas) is numerous at all seasons, and well
known as the origin of the domestic duck, common on both conti-
nents.
The Pintail (282. DaJUa actUa) is abundant in winter on the fresh
waters and bays, and is one of the best species for eating. This also
is common aroimd the northern hemisphere.
The Green-winged Teal (283. NeUion Carolinerwis) is abundant in
the colder months throughout North America, and though small, is con-
sidered as good eating as any. It scarcely differs from the European
species. The Cinnamon Teal (284. Querquedtda cyanoptera) is a beau-
tiful species, the male mahogany red, with blue wings. It is common
in this State, and in South America, but only a straggler on the eastern
slope.
The Shoveler (285. Spatula clypeaia) is a common winter species
throughout the northern hemisphere, and some breed within our limits.
They are about half the weight of the Mallard. The Gadwall (286.
Cluxulelesmus streperus) is another middle sized duck found throughout
the Northern hemisphere. Like the last, they are chiefly fresh water
species and good food. The American Widgeon (287. Mareca Ajneru
cana) is of similar size, with a white patch on the head, from which it
is often called Baldpate. It is chiefly a North American species. The
European Widgeon (288. Mareca Penelope) is not uncommon here, but
merely as a straggler. It is similar in size, but has a brownish head.
The Wood, or Summer Duck (289. Aix spoTisa), is a beautiful species,
common in summer throughout the United States, living chiefly in
woods and building in hollow trees. The male's plumage is too varied
for description here, but it is notable for having a long crest, and is
often seen stufled in museums.
Our other ducks are more fond of salt water bays, although most of
them are also found inland. They are considered generally inferior for
the table, unless we except the famous Canvass-bacL The three first
are common to the whole Northern hemisphere, the rest only occasion-
ally foimd in the Old World, though others very like some of them
occur there. The three first and four last are exclusively marine and '
not much eaten.
The Harlequin Duck (290. Histrixmicm iorquatm) is so called from
the bizarre pattern of its beautiful plumage. It visits our northern
coast in winter, but is rare. The Old Wife, South Southerly or Long-
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476 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
tail (291. Hardda glacialis) is a duck of middle size, plain plumage, and
gets its second name from its peculiar cry. It visits us with the last
The Big Black Head (292. Fulix maraa), and Little Black Head (293.
Fulix affinis), also called Scaup Ducks and Broad-bills (as is the
Shoveller), are nearly alike in plumage, and found plentifully in muddy
creeks in winter. The last is peculiar to America. The Bingneck (294
Fulix coUaris) is more of an inland species, and like the last, rather
fishy.
The Bed-head and Canvass-back Ducks are so nearly alike in plu-
mage, that the former is often sold for the latter, but may be distin-
guished by its light blue bill, lower part of neck more widely banded
with black, smaller size, etc. There is, however, little diflference in
their flavor after all. The female of the first is entirely brown, of the
last whitish, waved with black ; head, neck and breast brownish.
(295. Aythya Americana; 296. A. valisneriana. The Golden-eye (297.
Bubcephala Americana) is a handsome species, and pretty good eating.
The Buffel-head, Butter Duck, or Spirit Duck (298. Bucepluda aUbeola),
is a common little species, found with the preceding everywhere in
winter, very handsome, and usually very fat The Buddy Duck, or
Dun Bird (299. Erismatura rubidd) is reddish-brown, top of head black,
cheeks and chin white. The female is blackish-brown, dotted with
white. It is a winter duck, most common in fresh water, and con-
sidered fair eating.
The four next species are usually confounded under the names of
Surf-Ducks, Velvet Ducks, Scoters, and Coots. They never go inland,
live on fish, and are scarcely eatable. Their plumage is black, with
white patches on the head or wings, or variously colored bills, which
distinguish them. The females are mostly sooty brown. (300. Pdian^
etta perf^piciUaia; 301. P. Ih^owbridgii; 302. Mdanetta vdvdina; 303.
Oidemia Americana.)
Tl\e Shell-drakes, Saw-bills, Goosanders, or Mergansers, differ from
the ducks in having narrow bills with sharp teeth along the edge.
They live only on fish, and are scarcely ever eaten. They are, however,
very beautiful in plumage. The first two have green heads, black and
white backs, and salmon or buff breasts; the females are gray with red
crested heads. The third species is called Hooded, from expanded
black and white feathers on the head; in the female the black is
replaced by brown. They are partial to swift running streams, and ihe
two last are found around the Northern hemisphere. (304 Mergua
Americanm; 305. M. 9erraJtor; 306. Lophodyies cucullatus.)
The remaining water-birds are exclusively fish eaters and scarcely
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ZOOLOGY. 477
ever eaten, iinleBs when young; though the eggs of some are much
used. They must be disposed of more briefly than the ducks.
The Pelicans are of two species, the white and gray, the first chiefly
found on fresh water, the last on salt, and both abound here in the
colder months, as well as near the Atlantic. They are curious and
interesting birds, but uneatable. (307. Pelecanua erythrorhynchua ; 308.
P.fuMcus). The Frigate Pelican, or Man-of-War-Bird, (309. Tachypetes
aquilua) is occasionally found along the southern half of our coast, as
well as in all tropical regions.
Our Cormorants are of three or four species. The first is largest,
and found tliroughout the United States on rivers and sea-shores at all
seasons. The others are confined to the rocky coast and islands of the
eastern Pacific ocean. They are black, with more or less beautiful
tints of green and purple, white patches, etc. (310. Orcumlua dUopkvs ;
311. O. penictUaJtm ; (?. violaceus ? 312. O. Bairdii).
The Short-tailed Albatross (313. Diomedea hrachyura) is white with
black quills, the young for some years more or less sooty-black, and is
one of our largest birds. It is confined to the North Pacific. Length,
3 feet ; extent, 98 inches.
The Gigantic Fulmar (314. Ossi/raga gigantea) is about the same
size, brownish and white, and wanders far at sea over the Pacific
Ocean, feeding on dead whale meat, or other similar food, and rarely
approaching the land.
Two smaller Fulmars are foimd near the coast, and live by attack-
ing guUs in the air, obliging them to disgorge, and catching the half
digested food as it falls. They are the vultures of the sea. (315.
Fulmarus pacificus, and 316. F. tenuiroatris). Their plumage is so
much like that of the gulls that they easily approach them unnoticed,
but their bills are hooked. The Shearwaters are very similar, but
obtain their food by skimming off small fish, floating oil, etc., from
the waves, and keep off several miles from the coast. They are plain
gray, brown, or black and white birds, and should be called puffins,
though this name is usually applied to the sea-parrots. (317. Priofi-
nu8 cinereua ; 318. Pttffinus creatopus; 319. P. fuUginoaus).
The Petrels, or "Mother Carey's chickens," are occasionally seen
along the southern half of our coast, and the first named also north-
ward. This is a gray species; the second black; the third black with
a white rump, and the only one found in both oceans. They feed like
the last, and follow ships to pick up what is thrown over, as do the
Albatross and Puffins at times. (320. Oceanodroma/urcata; 321. Cymo-
chorea homochroa; 322. Oceanites oceaniccu)
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478 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
The Gulls are numerous here, both on fresh and salt waters, and
several of them are very similar in plumage, usually of some shade of
blue above, the rest white, but, when young, mottled with brown.
Each, however, has peculiarities in habits, size, etc., and only the sec-
ond spends the summer on our coast, though another breeds on the
islands of Mono Lake. They eat everything of an animal nature they
can swallow, and follow ships. The first is entirely white, and is a rare
visitor from the Arctic regions. (323. Lams Hutchinsii; 324. L. occi-
dentcdis; 325. L, glaucescens; 326. L, Smithsonianus ; 327. JL, Ddauxir-
ensis; 328. L. Calt/ornicus; 329. L. brachyrhynchus.)
Heerman's Gull (330. BUmpua Heermani) is a small species, dark
blue, with white head and red bill, which is often seen accompanying
the Gray Pelicans, and catching the small fish they drop from their
pouches after a successful dive. Kotzebue's Gull (331. Rissa Kotzdmei)
is a pretty little species, similar to the group first named. The Hooded
Ghill (332. Chroicoceplialus PhUaddphid) is common throughout the
United States in summer ; of rather small size, gregarious, and a good
fisher.
The Terns, or Sea-Swallows, are much like Gulls, with slender,
sharp bills, usually red or black ; bluish above, white beneath. They
are better divers, and live only on fish. Some are tinged on the breast
with rose or salmon color. (333. Thcdasseus regius; 334 T. elegans;
335. Sterna Forsteri; 336. S. Fikei.) The first and third are Eastern
also.
The little Black Tern (337. Hydrochdidonfiasipes) is not always black,
but in winter the body and wings are lead-gray, while the young are
white, brownish or black above. They frequent chiefly clear inland
waters, and have much the appearance of large swallows, feeding on
fish, and at times on insects also, as do some of the larger species, when
away from the coasi
Three species of this family, of peculiar forms and habits, are said
to visit this coast, but have not been recently seen. The first is Arctic,
the other two tropical (Buphagua skua; Creagrus furcaiua ; Haliplana
fuliginosa.) The first, called Yager and Skua, is a sort of marine
Eagle ; the second is little known, but has a long forked tail ; the
third is called Sooty Tern, or Noddy, and is foimd in both tropical
oceans.
Our Loons are of three species, the two first found in all the north-
em hemisphere ; the third peculiar to Northern America. They are
large and beautifully colored birds, when mature, but usually seen in a
plain brownish young plumage. Their most common names are Great
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ZOOLOGY. 479
Northern, Black-throated, and Red-throated Divers, and they frequent
both fresh and salt waters, (33&. Colyrnbm torqiiaiua; 339. C. septentrion-
alts; 340. C. Pacijlcus,)
The Grebes or Dobchicks resemble Loons^ but have the toes lobed
instead of webbed. All the species yet found in this State are peculiar
to the west coast of America, and, while with us, are grayish black above,
and white beneath — though probably obtaining finer colored feathers
in their northern breeding places. They vary from the size of a duck
to that of a dove, have long slender necks and bills, and dive so quickly
as often to escape being shot (341. .^hmophcyrua occidentalis; 342.
^. ClarMi; 343. Podiceps Cooperi ; 344. P. Califomicua.)
The Thick-billed Dobchick, or Dipper, (345. PodUymhus podiceps) y
is common, chiefly on the fresh waters of all North America^ and
remains with us in summer, building a nest floating on the water, and
attached to neighboring plants. It has many curious characteristics.
The Tufted Auk, or Sea Parrot (346. Mormon cirrhata) is often called
Puffin, (see No. 318). It is an extraordinary bird, of the size of the
common green parrot, and much the same form — its bill flattened later-
ally like a knife, but in profile not unlike the parrot's, being suited for
crushing crabs and shells for which it dives. Its color is black and
white, with a long yellowish tuft of hair-like feathers, on each side of
the head. It is common on the Farallone islands and others in the
North Pacific, where it lays one egg each year in a burrow scratched
among the rocks. Nearly all the following species also hatch but one
young one annually.
Two smaller black and white Auks, with smaller, more pointed bills,
and similar tufts on the head, are found along the sea-coast, chiefly in
winter. (347. Cerorhina vionocercUa; 348. C. SucJdeyi). They have a
curious knob on the bill, above the nostrils. Like all our auks, they
fly well, but excel most in swimming and diving. A still smaller kind
of the North Pacific only, is remarkable for singing rather musically,
when at night they visit their burrows on lonely islands during early
summer. (349. Ptyclwramphus Aleuticus),
The Pacific Sea Pigeon (350. Uria Columba) is as large as the land-
pigeon, black with white on the wings, and red feet. It lays and sits
on three eggs at a time.
The Califomian Murre (351. Catarrades Cali/omicus) is as large as
a small duck, head and back brown, beneath white, bill sharp-pointed.
They swarm about the Farallones and more northern islands, occasion-
ally visiting open bays to fish. Their eggs form quite an article of
traffic in June, when they are brought in boat-loads to San Francisco,
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480 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
and sold at a lower price than liens' eggs for cooking, thotlgli when
hard-boiled they are pretty good to eat. They are usually of the size
of a goose egg, but vary down to less than a quarter of that size, and
unlike nearly all other birds' eggs, there are scarcely two alike in color,
being variously streaked and spotted with black, brown, green, blue,
or olive, on a ground of white, blue, green, brownish or neutral tints.
Each bird lays and sits on but one egg at a time, but they repeat the
attempt to raise young several times after being robbed.
Two other little Auks complete our list of birds of this coast. The
first is of the size of a pigeon, and visits us from the north in winter.
The other is a third smaller, and found as yet only on our southern
group of islands and at Cape Si Lucas, being the most southern of
the Auk tribe north of the Equator. Both are peculiar to the North
Pacific, and both colored black and white, though differently. They
live in the open sea, and dive for small fish. (352. Brcbchyrcmiphus
nuxrmorabia; 353. B. hypclewcm).
REPTILES.
Of these animals (which we may consider as including the Batra-
chian, or scaleless, as well as the true reptiles,) there a;re eighty-five
species in California. Though generally considered uninteresting, and
repulsive to the majority of people, some are useful as food, and nearly
all serviceable on account of the insects, mice and other vermin they
destroy, while none but i!he Rattlesnakes in this State are actually
venomous. None are identical with Eastern kinds.
Obdeb Testudinata— Tobtoisbs.
Of these we have few species, compared with States east of the
Mississippi, on account of the much drier character of our climate,
not furnishing such extensive and permanent bodies of water as most
of them require.
Agassiz's Tortoise (1. Xerohatea Agam&ix) is found only in the south-
east quarter of California, which is both the driest and warmest They
grow a foot in length, and live wholly on vegetable food, closely
resembling the Tortoise called Gopher, (i. e. burrower), in the Gulf
States. They are like that imd most other species, eatable, but not
very well flavored.
The Western Terrapin (2. Actinemys marnwrata) is abundant in all
the fresh waters except perhaps, the Colorado river. It is black, usually
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ZOOLOGY. 481
mottled densely with yellow dots regularly arranged. They are almost
constantly for sale in the markets of San Francisco, and make pretty
good soups, though much inferior to the Sea-turtles. They grow eight
or nine inches in length.
Another Turtle (3. Platt/thyra flaveacem) is found in the lower Colo-
rado, but little is known concerning it, except that it is found also east*
ward to the Gulf of Mexico. Agassiz's great work gives full descriptions
and figures of the last two. (Contributions to the Nat. Hist of the
United States, vols. I and II.)
Great numbers of Sea-turtles are brought here from Mexico, but
are never captured within our limits.
ObDBB SaURIA — LiZABBB.
In this group of animals, for which our warm dry climate is par-
ticularly adapted, California excels all the other States put together.
Many of them are remarkable for curious forms and beautiful colors;
but they are generally avoided, or destroyed by inconsiderate people,
from prejudice or ignorance of their harmless and useful nature.*
Nearly all live entirely on insects, but one or more of the largest found
ill the southeastern quarter eat vegetable food. Many of them are eaten
by the Indians, and if we could overcome old prejudices, might be
found as good as the Iguanas of the tropics, which are considered by
people of all colors excellent food. None of our species are poisonous
or venomous, as far as is known, though some have that reputation
merely on accoimt of their ugly appearance. (By the help of the scien-
tific names, figures and descriptions of most of them may be foimd in
the Pacific R. K. Reports, U. S. and Mex. Boundary Reports, etc.)
We have no Alligators on this coast.
Various species, called ** Fence Lizard," are common throughout
most of the State. All of the genus have, in the male, a brilliant blue
patch on each side, somewhat beneath, and grow from six to ten inches
long. (1. Sceloporvs occidentalts; 2. S. gracimuSy southward and east-
ward ; 3. S. bisericUus, southward and eastward ; 4. S. mcu/ister, Colo-
rado valley — the largest ; 5. S. Glarkii, Colorado valley ; 6. S. longipea^
east of the Sierra Nevada.)
The "Fat Toad Lizard," (7. Euphryne obead), is a large heavy black-
ish species, nearly a foot long, found near the Mexican boundary,
and probably vegitivorous. A more slender species, (8. Croiaphytus
fasciatua), banded black and grayish, over a foot long, is foimd chiefly
east of the Sierra Nevada.
* They are Bomedines called " Scorpions, *' bnt are qtdte distiuct from those insects.
31
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482 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
/
The next is a pretty little species discovered by Oapi Stansbuiy in
his Salt Lake Exploration, 1852, but common everywhere in the south-
ern part of this State ; (9. Uta Stamburiana.) All the following spe-
cies are more or less similar and not over four or five inches long :
10. U. omata, found with the preceding; 11. U. graciosOy chiefly south-
eastward ; 12. U. symmetricaj chiefly southeastward ; 13. U. SchoUii,
along the Mexican line.
The "Thirsty Lizard," (14 Dlpsoaaurua dorsalis), is a rather heavy
built lizard, a foot long, and vegetivorous, found in the Colorado valley.
It is mostly pale gray, and has the back ridged, like the Iguana. Next
is a middle sized, very slender and swift lizard, found in the sandy
plains of the southeastern quarters, (15. CaUisaurvs ventrcdts), the name
of which means "beautiful lizard."
The "Homed Toad," (16. Tapaya coroncUa), common west of the
Sierra Nevada, is named from the broad, flat shape of its body, with
short tail, but is far removed from the toads in everything else. The
name " Tapaya^' is Mexican. Its ** horns," or spines about the head,
though by many considered poisonous, are harmless. The "Homed
Toad" of the northeast parts of California, and thence eastward to
Nebraska^ (17. Tapaya Douglasiij) is much smaller, being about four
inches long — ^the preceding, six.
A " Homed Toad" of more slender form is found in the southeastern
regions, and growing seven or eight inches long ; (18. Phrynosoma
regale) — ^literal meaning of the name, "royal toad-body" (lizard). A
"Homed Toad," also found in the southeastern regions; (19. Ddto-
saurus platyrhinus) — ^literal meaning of the name, the "broad-nosed
barrel lizard." Another " Homed Toad," is without any ear-openings,
but not deaf, as, like all the species, it is quite vigilanl^ active, and
not easily caught in warm weather ; (20. Anota McCaUii). The name
means earless, and General McCall first collected it.
A small lizard of the desert is named from Fort Tuma> and from
its spotted color ; (21. Uma notata). A large striped lizard, chiefly
found east of the Sierras, is a foot long, and named Tiger Armor-
bearer, from its color and armor-like scales ; (22. Ciiemidophorus tigrts),
A small, but peculiar species, is found as yet only near Fort Tejon,
land named after J. Xantus de Vesey, its vigilant discoverer; (23. Xaw-
iusia vigilia),
A blackish lizard, a foot or more long, with strong, heavy limbs,
and large blunt head, its skin knobby instead of scaly, is fouiid along
the Mexican boundary. It is the kind reputed poisonous, but is prob-
ably not. The name means the "horrid knobby-skinned" lizard ; (24.
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ZOOLOGT. 483
Heloderma horridum). The Many-ribbed Lizard (25. Oerrhonotm mid-
ticarincUus) is a foot long, but rather slender, though slow, found every-
where west of the Sierras, chiefly in forests. It is beautifully colored,
and perfectly harmless. 26. O. Wdbii; and 27. G. olivaceus, are small
kinds found near the Mexican Boundary. There is a smooth, very long
and swift lizard, found chiefly in the northern part of California and
Oregon. It is grayish-brown, somewhat spotted, and named in part
from its long taH being like that of the lizard called Skink. The generic
name may be of Mexican origin. (27. Elgaria scincicauda ; 28. E. for-
moaa, is a similar species.) The Variegated Lizard (29. Stenodaciylvs
varxegatxiB) is a small species found near the Mexican Boundary. An-
other rather small kind is found in the northern half of California,
also northward and eastward, of which the name means Crowded-
toothed, (Lizard), of Skilton. (30. Plestiodon SkiUonianum.)
Glass-Snake (31. Ophisaurus ventralis?) A species is said to be found
east of the Sierra, but is probably undescribed. These animals have
the form of a snake, but the anatomy of a lizard, though without feei
When struck, the tail generally breaks off short unlike that of the
snakes, and is said to grow out again, though imperfectly. They are
quite harmless, and a foot or two long. The generic name means
Snake-Lizard.
Obdes Ophzdia — Shufmnts.
These animals, so horrifying to most persons, are really useful, as
they destroy great numbers of ground-squirrels, gophers, mice and
insects. Only the Rattlesnakes are venomous, and are easily distin-
guished by their rattle. Some persons eat even these with great relish,
but we not know that any of the harmless kinds are eaten.
Fenomoua Serpenia.
The ** Fierce Rattlesnake, " (1. Crotalus atrox), is the kind common
in the Colorado valley, growing three feet long, and with black rings
on the taiL The '^ Homed Rattlesnake " (2. C. cerasiea) is a curious
species a foot long, with pointed knobs over the eyes, and found only
in the southern counties. The **Tiger Rattlesnake" (3. C. tigria) is
found in the Colorado desert regions, of large size.
The "Oregon Rattlesnake," (4 C. Luci/er)^ lives chiefly in the
northern part of California, eastern Oregon, and British Columbia ;
is olive and white, and grows two or three feet long. The '^ Southern
Rattlesnake " (5. (7. HaUotaeUi) is the common species in the southern
counties west of the Sierra, and grows four feet long.
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484 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
Harmless Serpents.
A pretty species^ (6. Chionactis occipitalis), banded black and white,
two feet long, found in the Colorado valley and southward has no
common name. The ''Banded Milk-snake" (7. Lampropdlis Boylii)
is similar in colors, but the bands more equal. It is foimd everywhere
west of the Sierra Nevada, and grows three or four feet long. The
** Beautiful King-snake" (8. Diadophis pidchetlus) is about eight inches
long, bluish-black above, rich orange-red beneath, with a ring of the
same around its neck, and found chiefly in the Coast Bange. Two, (9. 1).
amabilis; 10. 2>. pallidus?), are similar species, but differ in colors
and localities. Another little species of similar size, but olivaceous
color, found in the Coast Bange, is named from Leconte, the discov-
erer, (10. Contia mitis,)
The "Coppery Whip-snake " (11. Drymobius testaceus) is a very slen-
der species, four feet long or more, coppery-red, varied with black and
white, found in the southern counties, and thence eastward to Texas.
The ** Few-striped Whip-snake" (12. D. lateralis) is blackish, with a
few pale stripes on the sides, three feet long, and found in the Coast
Bange chiefly. The ** Many-striped Whip-snake" (13. 2>. twniaJm) is
pale, with several narrow stripes, of the same size, and found chiefly
east of the Sierra Nevada. A middle-sized snake of plain color is found
along the Colorado, and named from a Mexican State, and CoL Graham,
the discoverer, (14 Salvadora GraJiamii).
; The ** Green Bacer " (15. Bascanion vetustus) is an olive-green snake,
yellow beneath, three feet long, and found everywhere west of the
Sierra ; climbs trees like the Eastern blacksnakes, to which it is nearest
related — Charmless, but kills many mice and some small birds.
The ** Wandering Garter-snake" (16. Eatainia vagrans) is a pale
gray dusky-striped species, found nearly everywhere west of the Bocky
Mountains, but rare near the coast. The following eight species are
also called garter-snakes, and are all about two feet in length, but
vary in colors and arrangement of stripes, as well as other characters.
The Nos. 20, 21, and 22, are among our prettiest species of snakes.
The first five are northern, the others chiefly of the southern half of
the State, west of the Sierras. (17. E. atratai 18. E. lepiocepliala;
19. E, in/emalis; 20. E. Pickeringii; 21. JK amcinna; 22. E. elegans;
23. E, Hammondii; 24. E, Couchii).
The Southern Bull-snake (25. Pityophis beUona) is a thick, heavy
species, four feet long, found in the Colorado valley, ^and though large,
ahd colored in diamond-pattern, like the rattlesnakes, is quite harm-
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ZOOLOGY. 486
Ie8S» and, like the very similar species following, lives chiefly on mice,
gophers, and other burrowing animals^ pursuing them under ground.
(26. P. caJtenifer ; 27. P. anncctens; 28. F. veriebrcdis). These are
found west of the Sierra, and are probably varieties of one species.
They are also called Pine Snakes (the generic name).
A curious species is found only near the Colorado Desert, of which
the name means Scale-nosed (snake) of Leconte, (28. BhhiocheiluB
LecorUii). One, (29. Rena humUts), of which the name may mean Humble
Sheep-snake, is also a plain colored, but peculiar small snake, living
chiefly under ground, and found with the preceding.
The **Wood Snake" (30. Charina BoUce) is a shor^ thick, smooth
species, with small head and eyes, brown above, yellowish below, found
in woods under decayed logs, bark, etc., and comes nearer in structure
to the celebrated Boa Constrictor than any other United States snake,
but is quite harmless, living on insects, and apparently hunts for
them mostly at night. It grows only about two feet in length, and is
found chiefly in the Coast Bange, from Puget Sound to Mexico, wheni)e
the generic name probably comes.
Obdsb Batbachia — ^Fboos, Exa
The Batrachia, or soft-skinned reptiles, include frogs, toads, and
salamanders, or newts. Many species of frogs are eaten, when large
enough for their hind legs to furnish a choice morsel for epicure^
and all are regarded as harmless creatures, with the good reputation
of keeping springs clear and pure, probably because they are sensibk
enough to inhabit such water. The following species have been
described from California, chiefly the northern parts, as they do not
inhabit the muddy Colorado, and are scarce where the water dries up
in summer. (1. Bana longipe8\ 2. B. Boylii; 3. B. Draytonii; 4 B.
LecorUii).
One species of Wood-frog (5. Hyla regiUa) is common everywhere
west of the Sierra Nevada, and in the drier covmties they even enter
houses in summer, attracted by the slight exhalation of moisture from
water tanks, etc. They are only about an inch long in the body, and
have the power of slowly changing color to suit that of surrounding
objects, thus concealing themselves. They vary from grass-green to
olive, or marked with brown of various patterns.
The Toads are more terrestial than Frogs, and more or less covered
with wart-like knobs. They feed chiefly at night, pursuing insects on*
the ground, and are thus very useful in the garden. The first-named.
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486 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA.
No. 6, grows four inches long, is nearly smooth, and has somewhat th&
habits of a frog in the Colorado valley — ^where this and the next are
found — the other two near the coasts and grow two or three inches
long. (6. Bu/o alvarius; 7. B, WoocPumaii; 8. B. halophila; 9. B.
Columbiensis,) A kind of toad, with peculiar feet, is found in the
northern part of the State, and the same, or a similar one, is also
found at San Diego. The generic name means Spade-f ooi (10. Scaph^
iqpus Hammondii.)
The Salamanders are Lizard-shaped animals, generally with smooth
shining skin, usually brightly colored, and nocturnal in habita, con-
cealing themselves by day in damp places, under stones^ etc. They are
harmless insect-eaters, though superstition has invented many woiider^
ful stories of their venomous and even supernatural qualities.^ ^ Some
kinds, called Newts, inhabit water, and all go into the water in spring,
requiring much moisture at all seasons. Most of these are found only
in the northern half of this State, or on high moimtains southward,
taking the place of the Lizards, which require heat and dryness. They
are slow crawlers on land, but many swim rapidly, and are sometimes
caught on fish-hookgf. (11. Arnbystoma Cali/omiense ; 12. A, pundur^
latum; 13. A. macrodactylum; 14. A. tenebro9um; 15. A. mavortium; 16.
A ingens; 17. A vehiculum.) These are aU confined to northern Cali-
fomia and Oregon.
'A. slender species, (17. BcUrachosqps aUenuahis), two to three inches
long, of which the name means " Slender Frog-Lizard," is foxmd every-
where west of the Sierra Nevada; color black, bluish below.
A pale yeUow-red species, five inches long, common in the Ooast
Bange, and distinguishable from the rest by its smooth skin, has a
name meaning the "Mournful Unknown," (19. Aneidea lugubria.)
The Warty Salamander (20. Diemycidus toroaa) is one of the few
iq>ecies with dry, rough skin, dark reddish-brown above, orange
beneath, and is more able to withstand dryness than the others^ being
often found in the mountains iravelling by day.
The "Fish-Lizard, Four-legged Fish, or Mud Pup," (21. Siredon
?) is one of the curious links between reptiles and fish, having
gills on the oiUside of the neck, and inhabiting water only. A species
is said to be found in the mountain lakes of the northern Sierra
Nevada, but has not been yet named. A black kind, eight inches
long, with membranous, fin-like expansions, is found in the Columbia
river.
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ZOOLOGY. 487
FISHES.
With this class California is probably better supplied than any other
equally populous portion of the civilized world, as regards either abund-
ance, excellence, or variety. Not only are our own markets fully stocked
at all seasons, but great quantities are salted or dried for use in the
mines, and for exportation to China — ^the latter business being chiefly
carried on by Chinese. That king of fishes, the Salmon, is plentiful
in spring in many of our rivers^ and Trout of large size and excellent
quality abound in our mountain lakes. The marine fishes furnish hun-
dreds of species, most of which have no English name, or are given the
name of some Eastern or European fish, often quite different. On this
account, and because little is yet known concerning the habits and range
of our fishes, a very brief enumeration only can be given here. Nearly
all those found on this coast were new to naturalists in 1850, and since
1859, the date of the Pacific Bailroad General Beport on fishes, no
less than fifty species have been discovered here, while many, doubtless^
yet remain undescribed. The whole number already determined is one
hundred and ninety-four.
BONY FISHES.
pEBomA— Peboh Faxily.
The Giant Perch (1. Stereolopis gigas) was first described by Dr. W.
O. Ayres, of San Francisco, in 1859. It resembles the little fresh-
water perch in form, but grows to the enormous length of seven feet^
weighing three hundred and sixty pounds, the proportions of one caught
in San Francisco Bay, and described by Dr. Ayres. They are not un-
common along the southern part of the coast, but not much caught, aa
they usually carry off the fisherman's hooks, and when taken are coarse
food. They are also called ** Jew Fish."
Two species, called "Basse," are caught south of Monterey, and
are pretty good eating. They grow about two feet long, are olive above,
spotted or clouded blacL (2. Paralabrax nebvlifer; 3. Airadoperca dot-
hrata.) Afresh water Perch (3. ArchopUtea inierruptus) is common in
the interior rivers, and about equal to the Perch of other countries in
size and flavor. The viviparous and other fish are also called "Perch."
IiATIIiOn>.S.
A species called "Whitefish," (4. CatddatUus anomalu8\ but quite
distinct from any fish called so elsewhere, grows three feet long, and
inhabits the southern waters of this State, but is not so good eating as
the lake Whitefish, (Coregonua,)
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488 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
SCUCNIDJB— KiNOFIBH FaKELT.
The Grunter, (5. Bhinosdon saiximus), is a species about a foot or
two in length, caught on the southern part of our coast, and good eating.
The "Corvina," **Cognard," or ** Little Basse, "(6. Levostomuallnea-
tus), grows a fopt long, and is caught in San Francisco Bay, but more
common southward, and is a good fish.
The Californian King-fish (7. Umbrina rmdtdaUi) is a southern coast
species, little known, but believed to grow over two feet long, and is
good eating.
The "Big Basse," (8. Atractosdon nobile), is a fish caught abund-
antly at San Francisco, and southward, growing five feet long and weigh-
ing seventy pounds. It is one of the best sea-fish sold in our markets.
Another small species, (9. Seriphus polUus), growing eight inches long,
is caught in San Francisco Bay, but is rare and little known, with no
common name. It may be called the California Weak-fish.
Gh£toi>onidjs— MooK-FiSH Family.
Two fish which have no common names are found on our southern
coast, the second extending to San Francisco but rarely. The first
grows six inches, the second a foot long. Many of the tropical fish of
this family are brilliantly colored. (10. ParepMppua toiiatus; 11. GireUa
mgricana.)
PoMACEMTBID.fi.
The Californian "Gold-fish" (12. Glyphidodon nibtcundus) grows
nearly a foot long, and resembles the common Gold-fish kept in v|«es,
both in form and color, though different in anatomical character — that
fish belonging to the Carp family. It is found about our southern
islands.
The Californian Chromis (13. Chromis pundipinnis), is a blackish
perch-like fish, with spotted fins and tail, found about the islands and
southern coast, where they are caught for food, but are not so good as
the true Perch.
EMBIOTOCOIDJt— ViVIPABOTTS PeBCH.
This family, peculiar to the North Pacific, and so interesting on
account of their mode of reproduction, unlike that of nearly all other
scaly fishes, has numerous representatives on this coast, varying from
the size of a gold-fish to a foot long, and a weight of about a pound.
None of them are considered very good, though all are eaten^ and
command an extra price from the Chinese, who dry them in large
quantities for export to China. They have been described by several
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ZOOLOGT. 4:89
naturalists under different names, but the following are those now
considered correct. The first species only is an inhabitant of the
interior rivers, the remainder being caught along the whole coast> and
from their usual resorts on the open sea beaches, are often called
** Surf Fish." (14 Hysierocarpua Traskii; 15. Embioioca Jacksoni ; 16.
U. argyrosoma; 17. Iheniotoca lateralis; 18. Hypaurus Caryi; 19. Dam-
alicJUhya vacca; 20. Phanerodon furcatua ; 21. Cymaiogaster aggregaius;
22. Bhachochetlua toxotea; 23. Amphiaiichua argenteua; 24 Holconotua
rhodoierua; 25. H. pulchdlus; 26. Hyperproaopon argenteum; 27. H.
arcuatum; 28. H. pundatum; 29. Hypocriiichtkya analia; 30. Bracky^
iaUua/renatua; 3L Jbeona minima).
liABBIDA— TaUTOO FaXILT.
The '*Eedfish" (32. Trochocopua pulcher) is a thick, heavy fish,
often weighing six or eight pounds, and over two feet long, black, the
larger ones with a red band around the middle third of body. They
are caught plentifully about the southern islands, and dried for trans-
portation inland, but being a coarse fish, are not much used fresh,
though sometimes brought to San. Francisco market by vessels.
The **Kelpfish" (33. Oxyjvlia modeatna) is a fish a foot long, with
very large scales, and of various colors, caught from Santa Cruz south,
but not considered very good eating.
COBTPHJENIDA— D0I4PHIK FaXELT.
The "Harvest-fish," or "Pompino," (34 Poronotua 8imtUimua)i& a
rare species, brought to market in San Francisco and highly prized
for the table. It grows about eight inches long, and is very similar
to the Atlantic species.
SCOHBBIDA — ^MaOKEBEL FaMILT.
The California Mackerel (35. Scomber diego) is very similar to the
Atlantic species, but rather smaller. They are caught in great num-
bers some years, in September, at Monterey Bay, and southward.
When fresh they are very good fish, but inferior in quality when salted.
The California **Bonito" (36. Pdamya lineokUa) called by the Span-
ish "Caballero," and sometimes "Horse-mackerel," is a beautiful and
excellent fish, growing three feet long, and caught along the southern
part of our coast.
The Calif omian " Albicore" (37. Orcynua pacijlcua) is also a mag-
nificent fish, and one of ihe best caught on the southern coast, when
eaten fresh. It grows nearly three feet long, and weighs twenty-one
pounds.
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490 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOENIA.
The California "Horse-mackerel" (38. Halatractua dorsalis) is a
rare aQtomnal visitor as far north as San Francisco, and is not mnch
esteemed for the table. It grows nearly four feet long, and weighs
twenty poxinds.
Two allied fish, growing a foot, or a foot and a half long but too
rare to be of mnch value, are found at San Francisco and San Diego,
where they are sometimes called "Spanish Mackerel." Their sides
each have a ridge of large sharp scales. (39. Trackwrus symmetricua ;
40. Parairactua boops).
The "Serra," or Saw-fish of the natives (41. Alepidoaaarua s&rra),
is a remarkable snake-like fish, flattened laterally, and found very
rarely at Monterey, washed ashore. It grows four feet long, and seven
inches in circumference.
SoOMBEBBSOOIDJi — GaB-FISH FaMILT.
A species of Gar-fish, or *' Bill-fish," (42. Bdone exUis), is common
along the southern part of our coast, and grows a foot or two long, but
is of little value, though well flavored.
Sfhybjsktda — ^Babbacoxtta Familt.
The Califomia Barracouta (43. Sphyrasna argentea) is caught abun-
dantly from San Francisco south, in summer and autumn, and is one of
our best fishes, either for the table or for sport in catching them, being
taken like the Bonito, Albicore, Horse Mackerel, etc., by trolling with
a fast-sailiilg boai They grow four feet long, and are of slender form.
Athebinidjb — SiiiVEBaiDE Fahtlt.
Three species called here "Smelt," and thus confounded with the
true Smelts (Osnierus), mentioned hereafter, are more or less common.
The first grows a foot and half long; the others less, being about eight
and six inches. All are justly esteemed as food, but inferior to the true
Smelts. (44 Chirostoma CaH/omiensis ; 46. C. affirm; 46. C. tenuis.)
Exoc<BTn>.B— Flyino-fibh FaMIIiT.
The Califomia Flying-fish (47. Exocostus Cali/omicus) is a species
growing fifteen inches long, and often caught along the southern part
of our coast, where it flies on board of small vessels^ but is not very
good eating.
Chbida — Ghibus FaIOIiT.
Four species called here "Sea Trout," are commonly caught near
San Francisco and northward, growing about a foot and a half long,
and are beautifully spotted with black in various patterns on a light
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ZOOLOOT. 491
ground. They are not very superior for the table. (48. Chirac con-
MdUubus; 49. O. pidus; 50. O. guttaius; 61. Acaniholebius nebuloaus.)
A fish called " Cod '' in Ban Francisco, though quite different from
the true cods, both in form and flaTor, is common along the whole
coasts and grows four feet long, being green or yellowish, spotted and
clouded black. (52. Ophpoma paviherina) — ^Panther Fish.
A fish which may be called ''False Pollack," as it resembles that
fish as much as No. 52 does the Cod, is occasionally caiight near San
Francisco, growing about eighteen inches long, and of plain olive tints.
(53. Anoplcpoma merlangu8.)
GASTEBOfllJBIDA — StTCKIiBBAOK FaMILT.
Seyeral species are abundant in the brackish and fresh waters of
this State, but interesting only for their curious habits of nest-build-
ing, etc., which make them favorites in the aquarium. (54. Chsterosteus
serratus; 66. O. pUbeius; 66. O. mtcrocephalus; 67. (?. WiUiamsaniu)
ScOBP£NIDiB— ^OOBnON-FlSH FaMILT.
The Califomian Scorpsena (58. ^S^. giUtcUa) is not uncommon from
Monterey south, and grows a foot long. It is, like others of the family,
rather forbidding in aspect, but pretty good eating, and confoimded
with the following by the name of Rock Cod.
The Califomian *'Rock Cod," ''Groupers," or "Snappers," are
of several species, one or more of them caught at every portion of our
coast, and are favorite fish for the table, having large bones chiefly, and
a resemblance to the Cod in taste, from which they were probably
named, as they look very unlike those fish, and resemble the preceding.
The various species are distinguishable by colors, being black, rose-
red, blood-red, olive, or variously spotted in constant patterns. (59.
Sebaska nigrocindas; 60. S. nebuloeua; 61. Sauricvlatus ; 62. S. ruber;
63. S. ooeUatus ; 64. S. dongatua ; 65. S. pauoispinis ; 66. S. ovcdia ; 67.
S. Jlavidiis ; 68. 8. melanopa ; 69. S. rosaceus.) Some of them weigh as
much as twenty-five pounds.
Allied to these is a rare fish cau^t near San Francisco, and only
about six inches in length, as far as is known, (70. Trichodon liiieatus.)
Another, equally rare, but believed to be common farther north, is
somewhat similar, but probably belongs to the next family, (71. Blep-
siaatrilcbus?)
OOTTIDA— ScDIiFDr FaXILT.
Numerous species are common both in salt and fresh waters on this
coast, those of the former usually called Sculpins, or Bullheads, the
others sometimes "Miller's Thumbs." The first two mentioned ax6
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402 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBNIA.
caught chiefly in fresh waters, the third goes up ihe rivers to spawn,
and the rest are confined to salt waters. Though most of them are
eaten, they are not considered very good. (72. CoUopsis gvlosus; 73.
C. parvus; 74 Leptocottus armaitia; 75. Oligocottus maeulosus; 76. 0.
analis; 77. 0. globiceps; 78. Leiocottus hirundo) 79, ScoirpcenicJUkife
marmorcUus; 80. AspiooUua bison; 81. HemiUpidotua spinoaua; 82. H.
Gibbsii ; 83. H. notospilotua ; 84 CcdycUepidotus lateralis). They are not
over a foot Idhg, and are grotesque fish both in form and coloring.
BIj£NKID.£ — BliENNT FaHILT.
The ** Wolf -eel" (85. Anarrichthya ocellatus) is a remarkable fish,
often four to five feet long, in shape like a thick eel, with enormous
mouth and strong teeth, its body covered with round spots. They are
caught near San Francisco and Monterey, are very voracious and fierce^
and not bad as food. They are allied to the Atlantic Wolf-fish.
The remaining fishes of this family are generally of small size, and
though curious in form and color, of little or no value as food. The
first in the list below is sometimes sold in the market by the name of
eel, though only a foot long, and, like the last, much more flattened on
the sides than the true eels. Several others have similar forms, and,
if common enough, would doubtless be also called "eels." All except
the last three — ^which have only been found southward — ^are caught
between San Francisco and Monterey. (86. Xiphidion mucosum ; 87.
Jjumpenua anguiUaria; 88. ApodicJUhya fiavidua \ 89. CebidicMhya crta-
iagaUi ; 90. (7. violaceua ; 91. Gunndlua orrudua ; 92. Blennivs gerUUis ;
93. Neoclinua Blanchardi; 94 Pterognathua aaiiricua; 95. Hderoadckua
roairatvs\ 96. CHbboixaia degana).
BATBACHmJB— TOAI>-Fl8H FaUHiT.
A species about a foot long, and generally rejected by fishermen,
on account of its ugly appearance, is found all along the coast. (97.
Forichthya notaiua).
GoBiDiB— €k>Br Familt.
These are small fishes, only a few inches long, but of remarkable
form and structure, living chiefly in muddy bays, on the bottom. Our
three known species are caught near San Francisco. (98. Lepidogobiua
gracilia; 99. JEucydogobivs Newberrii; 100. GiUicktJvya mirabiUs.)
CxoiiOFEEBmjB— Lump-Fish FamhiY.
These are small fish, a few inches long, found under stones at low
water, and having the power of adhering firmly to any object by means
of their ventral fins, which are formed like the common leather sucker
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ZOOLOGY. 4*3^
used as a toy by school-boys. (101. Caidarcha reticiUatus ; 102. iiip-
aria putchdltw ; 103. L. mucosus).
PLEUBONECTIDJB— FliAT-FlSH FAMILY.
These strangely shaped, though common and favorite fish, have the
body twisted around and flattened so as to bring both eyes on one side,
which is always turned up as they swim along the bottom of salt water.
All of our species are good eating, but some of superior qualiiy are
called "Soles," from their resemblance to that celebrated European
fish ; (Nos. 107, 114). Another is called Turbot, though not the same
as the Atlantic fish so called ; (No. 106). The two first are species of
Halibut^ one closely resembling the Atlantic fish, and grow over four
feet long, the latter sometimes weighing five hundred or six hundred
pounds. Both are caught near San Francisco. (104. Hippogloasua Cali^
fomicus; 105. H. vulgaris? 106. Platichihys steUcUus; 107. Parophrys
vetvlua; 108. Paroph'tys? Ayreaii; 109. Platesaa? bilineata; 110. Par-
cdichthya maculosus ; 111. Pleuronichihya ccenosus ; 112. P. Huhbardii ;
113. Hypopsetia cpiUulata ; 114. PsetUcMhys nxdanoaUdvs ; 115. P. aor-
cUdus ; 116. Metopovops Coopert).
Qaj>tdm—Cot> Faxtui.
These fine and valuable fish are represented so far south by only a
few small species — ^very good eating when fresh. Abundance of salt
cod are, however, brought to this market from the North Pacific, as fine
as those of the Atlantic, and the trade now employs several vessels
annually, with a prospect of a vast increase since the acquisition of
Alaska, as they are caught in immense numbers on that coasi
The California Whiting, or Hake (117. Merlucius productua) is rather
rare in the San Francisco market, but common further north. It grows
two feet long, and is one of the best of our fish.
The Califomian Codling, or Cusk (118. Broamophycia marginatua) is
also rare, and is known by its fins and tail being tipped with vivid red.
It is, doubtless, also a good table-fish.
' The Pacific Tom cod (119. Gadm proximua) is a little species caught
in large numbers in San Francisco Bay during the colder months, but
does not grow over six inches long. It is, however, a very good pan-
fish. The ''Masked Sand-Lauce" (120. Ammodgtea peraoiiaJtaa) is an
allied fish, of small size.
OpmniDA— Sand-fish Faiult.
A very small species (121. Ophidian Th?jlor%), only three or four
inches long, is found in the sands of Monterey beach.
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494 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
SaiiXonidjb— Thb SaiiXok Family.
These fish are probably the most important caught along our coast
and in the rivers, both on account of their abundance and their excel-
lence as food. The Salmon enter the rivers chiefly along the northern
half of the coast in spring and fall, and are caught in great numbers.
The Spring Salmon (122. Salmo quinnat) comes in the first months
of the year, and specimens have been caught weighing sixiy-four
pounds, or even more, the usual mode being with gill-nets, set in the
Sacramento river.
The Fall Salmon (123. 8. Scorden) is less abundant, and the males
are known by having a hooked snout. More of ihem are taken towards
the north, and great numbers are salted or smoked for our market
Their average weight is eight to twelve pounds.
The Salmon Trout (124 8. Masoni?) is a species rarely over two
feet long, caught in spring in the small streams running into.San Fran-
cisco Bay, and probably all along the northern half of the State. It
is considered superior to either of ihe others.
A "White Salmon of small size {8. aurora?) is found in the ocean
and mouths of streams in summer, but is probably merely- the yoxmg
of No. 121.
The Northern Brook Trout (125. 8almo ateHatus) is common in the
mountain streams and lakes of the Sierra Nevada, where they often
grow two feet long, and in Oregon are said to weigh at times fifteen
pounds. They are excellent fish, either for the table or for angling,
biting i^eadily at most seasons.
The Coast Range Trout (126. Salmo iridea) is abundant in most of
the clear western waters of the State, and furnishes much sport in sum-
mer for city anglers visiting the country. It scarcely ever reaches the
length of a foot
The Western Whitefish (127. .Coregonua WtUiamsonii) is a species
caught plentifully in Lake Tahoe and northward along the Sierra Ne-
vada. It measures a foot or two in length, and is nearly as good as
the trout, to which it is related.
Two species of true ''Smelts" are caught near San Francisco, and
sold in the market with the larger but inferior ''Shiners." (See Ather-
inidce). They are not over seven inches long, and may be distinguished
by having the posterior dorsal fin very small and thickened with fat, as
in all of the Salmon Family. (128. Hypomesus pretiosus ; 129. Oamerus
ihaldchihye).
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ZOOLOGY. 495
ScoPKLiDA— Stone-fish Familt.
130. Synodtts luciocepa is a very rare and ourious little fish caught
in San Francisco Bay, and little known.
Clttpeidjb — ^HsBBCf a Faxilt.
The Califomia Shad (131. Alauaa Cali/omica) is a rare species as far
as known, and only taken as yet near San Francisco.
Two species of Herrings are caught along nearly the whole coast,
and in great numbers. Though of different structure they are not dis-
tinguished by fishermen as of different quality, and in the great abun-
dance of better fish are not much used fresh, though salted or dried to
some extent, especially by Chinamen. (132. Clupea mirabilis ; 133.
Mdetta ccervled).
Several species of Anchovies, or Sardines, remarkable for their
size, are caught plentifully along the whole coasi Though of a tribe
celebrated as a delicacy in Europe, they have not yet attracted much
attention here. (134. Engravlia mordax ; 135. E. ddiccUtssimus ; 136.
K compressus ; 137. E. nanus). Length from three to six inches.
GYPBiNOBOirnDiB— KniLY-FisH Family.
Three little species, not exceeding four inches long, and of no
known use except for bait, are caught along our southern coast. (138.
Cyprinodon Cali/orniensia ; 139. Fumluhis parvipinnia ; 140. F. ?
MuBJENiDiB— Eel Faiolt.
The Taci&c Conger (141. Murcena mordax) is common near our
southern coast and islands, where they grow to a length of four feet
or more, and are considered good eating.
The Califomian Snake-fish (142. Ophidiurus Cali/omtenms) is caught
rarely at San Francisco and southward. It resembles an eel in form,
and grows twenty inches or more in length. (Myrichthys iigrinvs, Girard,
from Astoria, Oregon, may be the same).
CYPBINID.B— Oabp Familt.
Many species are caught in the fresh waters of this State, but none
are considered very good eating, as better fish are generally obtainable.
The first three, are universally called Suckers, and, as well known, have
the mouth underneath the head. They grow a foot and a half long.
(143. Caiostomvs occidentalia; 144 C. labiaius; 145. Acomua generosus?)
We have no fish very much like the Carp in form, and several of our
largest species of this family are so unlike any English or American
kinds that no distinctive name has yet been given to them. The two
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496 THE NATURAL TVEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
following have been sold in San Francisco market as ** Salmon Trout,**
but their very inferior quality soon exposes the imposition. They grow
to a weight of six or eight pounds, and in external form are not very
unlike trout. (146. Myhpharodon robmtus ; 147. M. conocephalus, young
of same ?) A closely allied fish, (148. MylocheUus /raierctdus), resem-
bling the English Barbel, is caught in the rivers near Monterey.
The first mentioned below has also been sold under, the name of
Salmon Trout, though quite distinct from No. 146, except in color,
which is nearly alike in all our Cyprinoids. It grows to the length of
three feet, weighing sixteen pounds, and it is said even as high as
thirty. The second is confined to the Colorado river, having nearly
the same appearance, and is there caUed "Salmon," though a poor sub-
stitute for that fine fish — ^there unknown. The third, very similar, is
caught near Monterey. (149. Ptychocheilus grandis ; 150. P. liicim ; 151.
P. rapxx.)
The next two most resemble the " Buffalo-fish" of the Mississippi
valley, old ones having the back very much humped, and are confined
to the Colorado valley, where they are about the best fish caught.
They grow a foot or two in length. (152. GUa robusta ; 153. O. degana ;
probably young of No. 152.)
' Of the following, No. 154, resembles the English Dace, and is found
in Tulare valley. Nos. 155 and 156, inhabiting the San Joaquin and
Sacramento valleys, come nearest to the Boach. No. 157 may be called
a Tench, and is also from the San Joaquin. None of them are known
to exceed a foot in length. (154. LvxUus occiderUcdis ; 155. Tigoma
conformia ; 15.6 T, crassa ; 157. Siboma crasaicaiida.)
No. 158 is near enough to the English Bleak to inherit that name,
and inhabits the Sacramento. No. 159 inhabits the southeastern rivers,
(Merced, Mojave, etc.), and, with allied species, resembles nearly the
true Minnow, growing about six inches long. Nos. 160 and 161 are
nearest to the Chub, and inhabit the San Joaquin, Salinas, etc. The
former has been also sold by the names of "Pike," and ** Herring;"
the name *'Pike" being also given sometimes to Nos. 149, 150, 151,
152, and 153 — though there are no true Pike west of the Eocky Moun-
tains. (158. Orthodon microlepidotus ; 159. Algansea formosa ; 160. La-
vinia exilicauda ; 161. L. hareng^us.)
The remaining species are like the English Ghidgeon in form,
having little cord-like feelers at the sides of the mouth, and may
go by that name. They inhabit the interior rivers, growing about a
foot long, and are probably the fish called '' split-tail" in some placea
(162. PogojiicJUhys incequUobus ; 163. P. aymmeiricua ; 164. P. argyrei-
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Z00L06T. 497
osm). Farther comparison will probably tmite these species, and per-
haps others of this family.
GABTILAOINOUS FISHES.
These have the skeleton only partly ossified, and many have no
bones at all (unless the teeth are called bones) their place being sup-
plied by a cartilaginous frame. Some h&ve the skin thickened into a
kind of shell, and in nearly all, the ordinary scales are modified into
bony plates, spines, or altogether wanting. They are not generally
eaten.
The California Sun-fish (165. Orthagoriscus analis) resembles that
o{ the North Atlantic, having a nearly circular form, with the fins
behind. One has been taken near San Francisco seven and a half feet
in length, and weighing 632 pounds I They are sometimes harpooned
for the oil they contain.
The California Balloon-fish (166. Oastrophyaus polUm) is slightly
prickly, a foot long or more, and can swell itself out, when irritated,
into a nearly globular form. Found as yet only ftear San Diego.
The Large Sea-horse (167. Hippocampus ingens) is about nine
inches long, and like the Atlantic species has the head formed like that
of a horse, the body enclosed in an angular plated armor, and the long
tail suited for holding on to sea-weeds, etc. It has only been met with
at San Diego and southward
The Pipe-fish furnish us several species, much like those of the
Atlantic ; slender, plated fish, with the mouth drawn out into a tube,
open at the end. They are found along the whole coasts and grow six
to twelve inches long. (168. SyngncUhus Cali/omienaia ; 169. S. grtaeo-
lineatuB ; 170. 8, leptorhynckuB ; 171. S, dimidiatus ; 172, S. arundin^
aceus ; 173. Dermatostethus punctipinnia).
The Sturgeons enter the rivers near San Francisco, and north, in
large numbers, and are of great size. The first mentioned is called
White Sturgeon, and is the largest fish sold in the markets, often weigh-
ing one hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds, and sometimes as high
as three hundred. The second, called "green," is, however, said to
grow fifteen feet long, and to weigh eight hundred poimds ! The third
is little known. (174 Antaceua brachyrhynchus ; 175. A. acutirostris ;
176. A. mediroeiris).
The Elephant-fish, or Skooma, (177. Hydrolagus CoUiet) is a curious,
shark-like fish, two feet long, and with a pointed tail, an elongated
snout, and plate-like teeth. The Indians esteem them as food.
32
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Tho Sharks are numerous along our whole coasts and some of the
larger kinds are taken in large numbers for the oil which is extracted
from their livers. The first is known to grow six feet in length, and
sharks of ten feet are said to follow vessels near the coast — ^perhaps of
the second species. The others have not been f oirnd over three or four
feet long, and no instances of any of them having attacked persons
when bathing have been recorded. (178. Notorhynchua macidcUua ; 179.
Jsoplagiochn Herdei ; 180. Tnads demi/asciaius ; 181. Gh/ropkurodus
Francisci ; 182. AcarUhias Suddii, the Dog-fish ; 183. SphjframaUmB,
the Hammer-headed Shark; 184. Alcypiaa wipes? the Thrasher.) The
California Angel-fish (185. Bhina Cdli/omica) is like ihe Atlantic spe-
cies, a sort of wide-flattened Shark, with wing-like fins on each side,
and grows three or four feet long. It occurs rarely near San Fran-
cisco.
The Bay family has also many representatives, but they are not con-
sidered of much use, though some are eaten by the Chinese and others.
The first grows four feet long ; most of the others are nearly as broad
as long, or broader, aaid the Torpedo much resembles that of the west-
em Atlantic. The three last, called Sting-rays, have a spine in the
tail, with which they inflict severe wounds. Some of these have been
found eighteen feet wide. (186. BhirtobcUus producius ; 187. Bhinoptera
veepertUio ; 188. Uraptera binocidaia ; 189. Torpedo Gali/omica ; 190. Uro-
hphus HaUeri; 191. PieroplcUea marmorcUa; 192. Trygon ?)
The Lampreys are the Eel-like fish of this division. They have no
bones, and scarcely any teeth, only sufficient to make a slight incision
in the skin of the fishes on which they fasten themselves to suck their
blood like leeches, thus forming a link with the next lower class of ani-
mals. They enter the fresh water streams in large numbers in spring,
and are occasionally caught by hand in shallow waters, being highly
prized by some foreigners, though not much esteemed by Americans.
They grow two or three feet long. (193. Larapetra pLxmbea ; 194. Entos-
phenua epohexadon; 195. E. ciliatus.)
Finally, there is a little worm-like fish found as yet only at San
Diego, (though similar ones occur on the shores of the Atlantic), so low
in development that it has no eyes, heart, or even brain, and looks like a
bit of white gristle, flattened at the sides, and tapering towards each
end. It may be called the " Worm-fish, " (196. Iiranchio8t(yma ?)
Its length is about two inches^ and it lives buried in the sand.
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zooLoaT. 499
MOLLUSC^— SHELL-nSH.
To mention the numerous species of this class found in California
would be impossible here, so we must limit this notice to a few eatable
kinds.
The so-called "Date Fish,** or *'Bock Oysters," are several species
of bivalves, which bore into soft rocks or clay between tides, from
which they are easily extracted, and are considered among the best of
the class for the table. Similar kinds are called '^Piddocks'* on some
parts of the Atlantic shores. (1. Zirphcea criapcUa; 2. Pholadidea penita;
3. Paraphdas Galt/oDiica),
Some other harder-shelled species are foxmd with these and not
usually distinguished, though much inferior for eating. (4 Saxicava
phdadis ; 5. Phiyodon ccmcdlahts).
Much larger shell-fish, burrowing in softer earth, are occasionally
obtained, and called Squirt-clams. Their shells are often six inches
long, and one animal enough for a good meal (6. Glydmeria gene^
rosa; 7. Schizothoerus NuUaUt).
Several kinds, called Bazor-fish, are found in the sandy sea-beaches
and bays, but have not yet been much sought for, though considered
about third rate for eating. (8. Sokn stcarius; 9. SoUcwrius CcMfor-
nianus; 10. Machoera pahUa).
Several kinds, confounded as "Soft-shell Clams,'* are abundant
along several parts of the coast, and some of them much eaten, though
liable to have sand or mud inside the shell. They grow three or four
inches wide, and are flattened. (11. Sa/nguhwlaria NuUcMi \ 12. Mar
coma seda ; 13. if. namla ; 14 Tdlina Bodegensia), Several others
might be mentioned, but are rarely obtained alive.
The "Hard-shell Clams," "Quahogs," etc., are numerous, and
therefore much eaten, though inferior to most of the preceding for the
table. They are dug at low water in most sandy bays, and the largest
grow only about four inches wide. (16. Chione succincta ; 16. Ihpes
tenerrima ; 17. T. lacinicUa ; 18. T. staminea ; 19. Saxidomus graciUa ;
20. S. NiUtaUii). No. 18 is the most common at San Francisco.
The " Cockles " are sometimes dug for food, but not so commonly,
though very good for soups. They are sometimes four inches wide
and three in thickness. (21. Cardium corhis ; 22. C. qiuxdragenarium).
The "Mussels" are abundant along the whole coast, and the first
named is most common, growing sometimes nine inches in length.
The second, also found in the North Atlantic, is smaller, and found
chiefly in brackish bays. (23. MytUm CoXifornUmus ; 24 M. edidis).
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500 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
The "Fresh-water Mussels" are found in all the larger interior
streams, but rarely eaten, though not unpalatable. Pearls may be
found in them occasionally, especially in the first. (26. Margofritana
fahaUi'y 27. AnodcmUi angvlaUx) 28. A. Cali/ornienaia; 29. A. Oregonensia;
30. A, WaJdamaterists.)
Several species of Scallops are found along the coast, but not much
eaten, though doubtless as good as those of the Atlantic The largest
species are mentioned, growing four inches wide and an inch thick.
(31. Peden fiastcUus; 32. P. vefntncoam). A very large kind, often with
a shell six inches long and four wide, but irregular and rough outside,
is rather common, and the shells often mistaken for those of Oysters,
though when young they are perfect Scallops. (33. HinnUes gigarUeus).
The Oysters native in our bays are rather small in size, but great
quantities of larger ones are brought from the more northern coast and
planted in San Francisco Bay, where they become very good. A Mexi-
can species is also brought here, which grows four or five inches long,
but these large ones are considered too tough. The attempt is being
made to naturalize them in the bay. (34 Oatrea Ivrida; 35. 0. concha-
pJiUa).
Of the Univalves very few are eaten, though they will probably be
more used when better known, as many of their allies are on both
coasts of the Atlantic. Some of the largest Snails are eaten, chiefly
by foreigners, and are said to be equal to the European species, so
much prized by some epicures. They grow about an inch or an inch
and a half high and wide. (36. Hdix arroaa; 37. H. tudiculcUa; 38. JK
Jiddis; 39. H. infumcUa, and perhaps others).
Some of the ''Abelones," or "Ear-shells," growing here ten inches
in width and two deep, are much sought for, though the foot, which
alone is eaten, is very tough and needs much poimding. They are
numerous on many parts of the coast, and large numbers are dried by
the Chinese. (40. Halioiis Cracherodii; 41. H. ru/escens; 42. H. splen-
dens; 43. H, corrugcda, ihe last two rare). The shells are also exported
for inlaying work.
The Limpets are eaten on other coasts, and our largest species here
also occasionally, but not much in request. It grows two inches long.
(44. LoUia gigantea, and probably some Acmeas).
Some of the large Top-shells, found here from two to three inches
high, and the same in width, are eatable, but have not been much used.
(44 Pomavlax undoeus; 45. Fachypoma gibberosum). Our ** Periwin-
kles " (Littorina) are too small to be eaten.
Our large ''Sea Snail,'' (46. Lunalia Lewim)y growing five inches
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ZOOLOGY. 601
wide and nearly globular, is eaten by the Indians, but has not attracted
much attention from others.
Several, which may be called "Whelks," as they resemble more or
less the Atlantic species so called, grow four or five inches long, and
are doubtless quite as good as that animal for food, but have not yet
been offered for sale, though many could be obtained by proper means.
(47. Priene Oregonemis ; 48. BaneUa CaLifomica ; 49. Nasaa foasata ;
50. Purpura crispata ; 51. Chorus Bdcheri ; 52. Chrysodomua tabulcUvs,
and many smaller kinds).
Of *' Cuttle-fish " and " Squids," of which many kinds are eaten in
Europe, and much used for bait on the Atlantic coast, we have several
species, some growing three feet long, their arms stretching seven feet*
They are much used by the Chinese, who consider them a luxury, and
dry many for export to China. Among them is the kind which forms
the beautiful Paper Nautilus, or Argonaut ShelL (53. Argonauta Argo ;
54. Octopus pundatua ; 55. Ommastrephea gigarUeua).
CRUSTACEA.
CSABS, LOBSTEBS, ShBIMPS.
These animals are abimdant and large on our coast, but few species
are used as food, although many more might doubtless be so.
The "Crabs" common in Sail Francisco market are of the follow-
ing species, the first and largest of which grows six or eight inches in
width, and all are excellent eating. (1. Cancer magisler ; 2. C arUenr
narius ; 3. C produdua). A vast number of strange and little known
species of Crabs are found in the salt waters, some of them growing
over a foot in breadth, but too rarely caught to be used as food.
The "Lobster," which, however, has not the large clawB of the
Atlantic species, grows a foot and a half long, and is a favorite luxury,
brought by steamers in large numbers from Santa Barbara. (4. Pan-
vlirus irUemiptua).
The ''Shrimps" are caught abundantly in the bays, and almost
always plentiful in market. They grow three inches long. (5. Cran-
gon Frariciscorum ; 6. C nigricaudd).
** Crawfish" are also found in the interior, burrowing in the muddy
banks of fresh water streams, and are doubtless very good eatings
some being four or five inches long. (7. AbIocus — — ?)
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CHAPTER VIII.
FLOBA.
General Bemarks— Soqnoia— The liammoth or Big Trees— Bedwood — Califoniia Pines —
Oaks — Cedars — ^Firs — California Nutmeg — California Yew Tree — ^Laurel — ^Manzanita —
Hadrona— Horse Chestnut^ or Bnckeye— Shmba and Plants — ^Poison Oak — ^Alder— Bar-
berry— Canchalagoa— Pitcher Plant — ^Yerba Bnena — ^Flaxworts — ^Flea-bane— Soap Plant
Orngses ■ ■ Catalogue of NatiTe Trees of California.
It appears from the reports of Botanists, over eighty of whom
pursued their labors in California and Oregon, between the years
1792 and 1865, that only eighteen hundred different species were
collected during that period. Of these eighteen hundred species,
seventy-four per ceni are found in the collections of the State Geo-
logical Survey and of the California Ac^emy of Sciences. Five per
ceni are new to science, and eleven per ceni new to California. The
Flora of California presents many original and striking features ; the
trees, shrubs, plants, flowers, and even the mosses, ferns, etc., while
bearing a general resemblance to corresponding orders and genera else-
where, are here marked by strong individual peculiarities; and in many
instances the Flora exhibits examples wholly original — ^for instance,
the Mammoth or Big Tree (Sequoia gigardea) and the Monterey Cypress
(Cupreaaus Macrocarpa) occur nowhere out of California. The rapid
growth of Calif omian vegetation is remarkable ; the Botanist is surprised
to find, after only a fortnight's absence, in revisiting the same locality,
that not only most kinds of its flowering plants during ihat time have
ripened their seeds, but that many new plants have made their appear-
ance. The mountains of California are covered with forests of Pine,
Cedar and Fir, exhibiting a great preponderance of coniferous over
dicotyledonous trees, these conifers being restricted for the most part
to the sea-coast and the mountain sides. Our streams are fringed with
various deciduous trees and shrubs, whilst in the vast plains and prairie
country of the valleys the prevailing plants are graminece, composUce,
leguminowB, wiih a greater number of lUiacece than in any part of the
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FLORA. 603
Eastern States. This proportion seems to hold good until the foot-
hills of the Sierra are reached, where a greater variety of species, as
well as of genera and classes, are met with. Here the graminece
diminish in number, while the cruci/er<B and the composike greatly
increase. Here, also, the ranuncidaceoe and geranice, with numerous
variously colored and brilliant IcibicUce occur ; some of these mountain
meadows, by the great variety of their flowering plants, outvying in
this respect the most carefully selected flower gardens of the Easi
The same remark applies to the vegetation covering the several moun-
tain ranges, these differences of form being so notable as to entitle
them to a special Flora. Sometimes these distinctions are so broadly
marked and obvious as to strike the casual observer, while again they
are so slight and difficult of detection as to be found only by careful
scientific analysis. In some cases these differences go to the essential
properties of the trep or plant, while again they relate only to form,
color, or other external characteristics. The principal reason of this
mere dissimilarity is found in the fact that the Flora of California,
owing to its isolated position, is purely indigenous. Cut off from all
parts of the world by the great ocean that borders it on the west, and
separated by the lofty Sierra and a succession of arid deserts from
countries to the south and east, it has remained as when first shaped
by the hand of nature. Its condition is normal, and, therefore, to
some extent sui generis — a feature, that while it opens to the scientist a
peculiarly inviting field, commands also, in many cases, the attention
of the utilitarian and economist.
Confirmed by soil and climate, their original peculiarities have
become so inherent in many of the species, that they do not thrive in
oiher lands, and even refuse in some cases to grow at all ; thus, lAlium
Wcxshingtoniuroy (Kell.), and many seeds and young plants of California
growth, have in numerous instances been tried in foreign soils, and
though planted under the most favorable conditions, have failed to
fructify or take root, or, if they did begin to vegetate, died soon after,
or maintained only a feeble and sickly existence. On the other hand,
a few of these California productions take kindly to their new homes,
and become even more fruitful and vigorous than when growing in
their native soil ; while it is worthy of remark that almost every plant
of foreign origin finds in some part of this State a soil, climate, and
other natural conditions, adapted to its constitutional requirements.
In no other country is the range within which the products of the veg-
etable kingdom are capable of arriving at early and entire perfection
so broad as in California. Practically it may be said, in this particu-
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604 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA.
lar, to cover all the zones that belt the earth with climatic differences;
In fact, there is scarcely a cereal, fruit, plant or tree, wherever the
place of its nativity, that cannot be grown Bnd matured in the open
air in some part of California. It may not be found economical in all
cases to attempt the culture of these products on an extended scale,
nor is it afidrmed that they can here be raised in every instance so
readily as in the countries to which they are indigenous ; but simply
that such is the variety of our soil and climate, that a locality can be
found in some part of the State, where all the vegetable products of the
world can be grown at least as an experimeni^ and a very large class
of them with the greatest success.
The number of forest trees, exclusive of shrubs, found growing
north of Ban Francisco and south of the Columbia river, does not
probably exceed fifty. Both in number and size, the C(miferce greatly
predominate. The forest trees are distributed among the following
genera : Pinus, 8; Abies, 5; Picea, 3; Sequoia, 2; Cupresaus, 2; Thuja,
1; Ld>ocedru8, 1; Larix, 1; TaacuB, 1; Torreya, 1; QiLercua, 6; Populus,
3 ; Scdix, 5 ; Fraxinvs, 2 ; Acer, 2; Almis, 1 ; Comus, 1 ; Plaiarvua, 1 ;
Castanea, 1; JEscvlus, 1; Arbutus, 1; Oreodaphne, 1.
In California the forest growth ceases almost entirely at from ten
thousand to eleven thousand feet altitude. On Mount Shasta all large
trees disappear at an elevation of about eight thousand feet, only a
few shrubs being found above this elevation. Of these shrubs a species
of small pine, (Pinus oMcauUs, or P. fieocUis of the English botanist),
grows in favorable places at a height of about nine thousand feet ;
some of these trees have here been sa flattened and compacted in their
foliage by the snow that a man can stand, and even walk upon them,
without trouble. The Flora of this elevated locality conform more to
that of the Arctic region than to that of most lofty mountains in the
temperate zones.
At Mount Shasta, and in no other part of California^ is found the
Protococcus nivalis, or ^* red snow," one of the lowest forms of vegetable
life, and peculiar to most high Alpine regions. It is the only sign of
life above nine thousand feet, and makes its appearance from eight
thousand to twelve thousand feet, tinging with a purple or crimson hue
all this part of the mountain. When the snow is softened and warmed
by the sun, the footprints of persons walking over it are stained with
a blood-red color.
To collate within the space at our command the entire Flora of this
State would be impracticable, wherefore only a brief synopsis of the
same will here be attempted* Much of the matter contained in the
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FLORA. 505
following notes has been drawn from the reports of Dr. A. Kellogg,
U. C. Bloomer (Curator of Botany, California Academy of Natural
Sciences), Prof. H. N. Bolander, and to Dr. Newberry, of the Pacifio
Bailroad Surveying Expedition.
SEQUOIA.
THB BIO TBKKfl.
Sequoia GtganieOf (the Mammoth or Big Trees.) — ^The Sequoia is
found only in California — the Sequoia Gigantea only in a few localities —
there being but six or seven groves, so far as known, in the entire State;
though it is probable others exist in the unexplored regions of the
Sierra Nevada. Three of these groves are in Mariposa county, one in
Calaveras, one in Tuolumne, and one or two in Tulare county — ^the
trees in the latter locality being scattered over a great extent of coun-
try, admit of their being considered one grove or several. The three
Mariposa groves are within two miles of each other. The second one
in, size contains eighty-six trees ; the third, thirty-five. The Tuolumne
grove contains ten trees — one or two of which are said to be thirty-five
feet in diameter. The Calaveras mammoth grove was the first discov-
ered, and has attracted many visitors.
One peculiarity of this tree consists in its bearing two kinds of
leaves — those on the young tree, and on the lower branches of the
larger one, being about five eighths of an inch long, and one eighth
wide. They are set in pairs opposite each other, on little stems. The
other kind of leaves grow on the branches that have borne flowers, are
triangular in shape, about an eighth of an inch long, and lie close down
to the stem. The cones, solitary, or two or three together on long pe-
dicels, are not much larger than a hen's egg, whereas the cones of many
smaller conifers of the Coast are larger than pine apples. The seeds of
the Sequoia gigantea are not more than a quarter of an inch long, a
sixth wide, and almost as thin as writing paper, it taking about fifty-
thousand of them to weigh one pound. The bark is constructed on a
difierent plan from that of most^other trees — ^it being deeply corrugated
longitudinally. The corrugated layers are of a harder texture, and the
interstices are packed with an elastic, spongy substance. It is reddish
brown in color, generally very thick — on the large trees not less than
eighteen inches. The wood is soft, elastic, straight-grained, free-split-
ting, light when dry, and ifed in color — ^bearing a close resemblance to
red cedar, but the grain is not quite so even, and is very valuable.
The big tree grows in a deep, fertile soil, and is always surrounded by
a dense^ growth of other evergreens, comprising the various species of
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506 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF GAIJFOBNIA.
Pine, Fir, Spruce, and California Cedar. Many young trees of tLe
Sequoia gigantea^ produced from the seed, are growing in gardens in
California, in the Eastern States, and in Europe.
We have it on the authority of a statement made by Professor Whit- ^
ney, at a meeting of the California Academy of Sciences, May, 1867,
that among the remains of miocene plants found in the coal beds of
Greenland, were fossilized portions of the Sequoia^ or Big Trees — ^that
region being now covered with almost constant snow and ice.
The larger of the standing trees in the Calaveras grove, range in
size from 275 to 366 feet in height, and from 50 to 64 feet in circumfer-
ence— some of the prostrate trees having originally been of larger
dimensions than any of those standing. Many of the trees in the
Tulare group are reported to be lai^er than any found in the Calaveras
Grove, one of the former being, according to measurements made by
members of the State Cteological Survey, 106 feet in circumference at
the base and 276 feet high. A part of this tree was burned away, the
girth having been originally between 115 and 120 feet It is proper to
observe that nearly all these trees expand greatly at the base, measur-
ing much less ten or fifteen feet above than they do immediately at the
ground; wherefore, where accuracy is desired, it should be known at
about what height the measurement is made. The tree above men-
tioned as having a girth of 106 feet at the roots gave but 76 feet when
measured at a point only twelve feet above the ground.
BEDWOOD.
Sequoia Sempervirem, (Endl.), Bedwood. — ^This tree, first discov-
ered by Menzies, in 1796, is only second in size, while it stands first
in commercial value among the mighty forest trees of California,
though not much superior to the sugar pine in either respect Doug-
lass, in speaking of it^ declares that its appearance upon the mountains
of California is so majestic as to inspire the beholder with emotions of
awe. The Redwood belongs exclusively to the foggy regions of the
Coast Eanges, and the underlying metamorphic sandstone, for wherever
either of these is wanting the tree does not exist. From the northern
boundary line of the State down to the head of Tomales bay it forms
a continuous f oresi^ increasing in width northward. At Tomales bay
the chain is interrupted by a small bed of lime rock. The interruption
extending from the lower foot-hills of TamAlpais down to Belmont^ is
undoubtedly owing to the lowness of the hills. A connecting IitiV is
found, however, on the Oakland hills ; the grove of redwood found there,
now almost entirely destroyed, affording the strongest evidences of the
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FLOEA, 507
dependency of this species on the prevalence of heavy mists. Extend-
ing from Belmont to a few miles below Santa Cruz, is another narrow
continuous forest of these trees, occupying mainly the tops and western
slope of the mountains and the deeper gulches eastward. From near
the mouth of Salinas river to the head of Carmelo valley, another long
interruption is caused by the occurrence of a bituminous slate forma-
tion. The absence of redwood in this long interval can hardly be
ascribed to any other cause, inasmuch as Monterey and the adjacent
regions are subject to heavier fogs than Santa Cruz. Pinus Inmgnis,
and Cupressus macrocarpa^ occupy here those portions naturally belong-
ing to the redwood and Tsuga DougJxmu Further south, from the head
of Carmelo valley to San Luis Obispo, its most southern limit, red-
wood occurs but sparingly, forming nowhere extensive groves.
Associated with the redwood, we find 'fmga Dougiasii, a tree having
a wide range ; Torreya Cali/onitca ; Arbutus Mermesii ; Quercus dentsi-'
flora ; and in Mendocino coimty, Ahiea grandiSf (Dougl.); together with
some shrubs and herbaceous plants bearing its characteristics. The
shrubs, which increase as followed northward, belong mostly to the
EricacsBOus family. It is a noteworthy fact that the arborescent growth
on the seaward side of the first range of hills generally consists almost
exclusively of liuga Douglasii — ^this tree forming the outskirt east, and
particularly westward. In Mendocino couniy Abiea grcmdis unites with
it for the same cause — ^both these trees there forming a dense belt facing
the ocean, and are encroaching fast on the redwood. In fact, the west-
em portion of those redwoods show this encroachment most strikingly
by a total absence of young trees, while a dense undergrowth of the
two mentioned species is springing up. The order of things is reversed,
however, wherever the redwood has been removed. Its roots are im-
perishable, and as soon as the tree is cut they sprout and cover the soil
rapidly, to the exclusion of every other species — ^none other being of
so rapid a growth. The indestructibility of the roots renders the clear-
ing of such land difficult ; even the stumps of large trunks cut down
cover themselves within two or three years so completely with sprouts
that they can hardly be seen. The entire aftergrowth now found on
the Oakland hills is owing solely to the indestructibility of the roots
and stumps of the original foresi The tenacity of life in this species,
of rather rare occurrence in Coniferous trees, shows itself also in the
resistance it offers to fire. Trees bereft completely of their branches
by this element cover themselves in a few years entirely with young
sprouts, giving the trunks the appearance of a pillar, or one of those
old trees often seen in the east covered with Bhus toxicodendron. Even
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608 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA,
trees, after they have obtained a thickness of a foot or two, are not
liable to suffer from the effects of fire.
Another property peculiar to this species, is the great power it
possesses in condensing fogs and mists. A heavy fog is always tamed
by it into rain, wetting the soil and supplying springs with water dur-
ing the dry season; wherefore, springs situated in or near the red-
woods are seldom in want of a good supply, while crops on the Coast
Bange are not liable to fail It will surely happen that if the redwoods
are destroyed, and they necessarily will be if not protected by law,
certain portions of Califomia^ now fruitful, will become comparatively
a desert. The unhappy experience of other countries, such as Asia
Minor, Greece, France and Spain, should admonish us of the fatal
effects of suffering an entire removal of the forests, and lead to a timely
adoption of effective measure to prevent their destruction in this State.
Our people have been duly warned of this danger, Bolander and other
eminent botanists having called their attention to it years ago.
In explanation of the singular manner in which the larger sized
Sequoia are occasionally formed, Dr. W. P. Gibbons first directed
attention to the fact, that it has been found that three or four of these
trees standing in proximity, have by the expansion of their growth been
finally brought together and formed into one trunk. Since his sug-
gestion of this method of growth numerous examples of it have been
reported ; among others^ one occurring near Searsville, where several
redwood trees have for a height of over forty feet grown together form-
ing a single solid trunk. The only way to arrive at the age of such
trees, is to count the number of rings indicating the annual growth
from some single center. The oldest of these redwoods is about 1,500
years of age, much less than that of the Sequoia Gigardea. These red-
woods are evidently the second generation of the race ; therefore, it
may be inferred that 3,000 years at least have passed since the pres-
ent growth first commenced on the Coast Bange. But long before this,
vegetation must have covered portions of these hills, as the Sequoia
reposes i!h a bed of alluvium from tweniy to thirty feet in depth. The
bulbous expansion of these trees near the base is composed of an
enlargement of the roots growing together, and forming a complete net
work. The height of this indicates the degree of denudation which
the soil has undergone during the lifetime of the tree, being about five
feet in 1,500 years. Around the base of each of these trees lie from
10,000 to 14000 buds partially developed, possessing each the power,
under favorable conditions, of being developed and forming a perfect
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FLORA. 509
tree. The mass of wood contained in a tree of this kind, twenty-five
feet in diameter, is equal to 40,000 cubic feet, weighing over 2,500,000
pounds.
CAMPOBNIA PINES.
According to the classification of Prof. Bolander, the pines of
California are divided into sixteen true species. There are twenty
synonyms for these species, which have created some confusion as to
their real name and number. The correct names of all, with the popular
characteristics of the most striking, and their distribution, are herein
given. The names marked thus (*) are those of trees having persistent
cones, which they retain from ten to twenty years in some instances.
Those marked thus (f) retain their cones but two years, while those to
which this mark is attached (|) throw off a series of cones every year.
It is worthy of remark that all the conifers of the Pacific coast exhibit
a symmetry and perfection of figure, as well as a healthfulness and
vigor of growth, not attained by similar trees in any other part of the
world.
Pinus Imigrm,* (Dougl.), well known as the Monterey Pine, and
much cultivated in San Francisco. This tree covers many thousand
acres in the vicinity of Monterey and Carmelo, forming quite a forest
along the coast between these places : sixty to one hundred feet high,
one to three feet in diameter; shape very irregular, often only a few
rigid, much-spreading branches; foliage dense and of a vivid green
color ; cones persistent, ten to nineteen whorls ; bark very thick and
rimose. The streets of San Francisco, formerly planked with Oregon
lumber, are now laid with the Monterey Pine, it being very resinous,
and therefore standing the wear and tear better. It is also much used
for bridges, floors, etc.
P. MurvcatOy* (Don.)— Only species growing in the above Ticinity,
and which cannot be confounded with the Insignia. Singularly enough,
it has many synonyms, the trees and cones being of great uniformity ;
among the names by which it is known are the following : P. *Badiaia,
P. Sinda/rii, and P. Tvberculata.
Fiuus TubercukUa,* (Don.), Tuberculated Ooned Pine. — ^This tree
was first found by Dr. Coulter, south of Monterey, together with the
P. InsiffniSy near the level of the sea and close to the beach. The
foliage sparse and dull; rather bluish-green color; height from fifteen
to thirty feet; diameter six to fourteen inches. Found also at Santa
Cruz, Ukiah, Oakland hills^ Forest Hill, and Eureka. The cones from
the different localities are of great uniformity, but differ essentially
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610 THE NATURAL ^TEALTO OF CALIFOBNIA.
from those of the P. Insigms of Monterey, though the two trees
Btronglj resemble each other. Whorls of cones ten to twenty. Both
species grow near the coast, but on different soil, the P. Insigms pre-
fering a soil produced by the disintegration of a bituminous slate and
granite ; while the other prefers a soil derived from metamorphosed
sandstone. Should these two species be definitely united, after a
thorough investigation, they would afford a striking example of the
influence of different soils. It is singular to find such a well charac-
terized form restricted to one locality, though this would not here prove
an isolated fact, the Abies BracUjeala being similarly confined to one
locality in California. Isolation is in fact more or less a characteristic
with all our trees, there being few countries where the influences of
soil, climate, and exposition are so well and abruptly marked and
tmmistakably defined as in this.
P. C(yi\i(yrUi* (DougL ?), Twisted Pine.— Head of Tomales Bay,
Mendocino City, and foot-hills of the Sierra. Its manner of growth
much resembles that of P. Insignia. It attains the same height, has
the same irregular spreading branches, the same thick rimose bark
and resinous wood. The leaves are invariably in pairs, and slightly
silvery on the lower surface. The cones are scarcely two inches long.
Pinus PonderosOyX (P^^^'\ ^^ ^^^ known Yellow Pine, attains a
height of two hundred and twenty-five feet or more, and a circumfer-
ence of twenty-three or twenty-four feet Its leaves grow in threes at
the ends of the branches, presenting a peculiarly tuffed appearance;
their color dark yellowish-green; the bark of a light yellowish-brown,
or cork color, is divided into large smooth plates from four to eight
inches wide, and from twelve to twenty inches long, whereby the tree
may be recognised at a distance. The Yellow Pine is found at Russian
River Valley, south of Clear Lake Geysers, Auburn, Forest Hill, San
Jos^ Valley, Blue Mountain, Rocky Mountains and New Mexico.
Pinu8 Lambertiana,* (Dougl.), the well known Sugar Pine, or Long
Coned Pine of Fremont, usually grows at great altitudes. The mature
tree sometimes reaches a height of three hundred feet, and a diameter
of ten or fifteen feet ; leaves are three inches long, dark bluish-green ;
grows in groups of five ; foliage not dense ; cones large, sometimes
eighteen inches long by four thick. The wood is similar to the White
Pine (Pinus Strobus) of the Eastern States — ^white, soft, homogeneous^
straight-grained, clear and free splitting ; it furnishes the best lumber
in the State for '^ inside work" of houses, being the chief building
material used in the Sierra Nevada, where it grows, and in adjacent sec-
tions. The tree derives its name from a sweet resinous gum which
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FLOHJL 511
^xtidea from tlio duramen or hard wood portions. This substance in
appearancej granulatiou and taste, resembles the raanna of the drug
stores, except by a sliglit terebinthine flavor. It is found only in email
quautities^ and has cathartic; properties.
Pinus Cotdkrijii Coulter's Pine* — Found on the eastern slope of
the Coast Bange in the Banta Lucia Mountains; not large; sometimes
attains a height of seventy-five feet ; knotty, highly ornamental ;
branches large and spreading; leaves a foot long, and pale sea-green in
color. It is remarkable for having the largest cone of all the pines —
seventeen inches in length, seven inches through^ and shaped like a
sugar-loaf.
Pimis Sabmniajiayf (Dough ) — ^This is the Nut Pine of the foot-hills,
sometimes called the "Scrub Pine/* ** Silver Pine," or the "Digger
Pine ;" found on tho lower slopes of both the Coast lUnge and Sierra
Nevada, occupying the drier positions — leaves from four to ten inches
long, grow in threes* The California Indians formerly gathered the
nuts from its cone — they being with them a favorite article of food.
The woodpecker selects them as store houses for its winter food, cutting
holes in the bark and putting an acorn in each.
Piling Mojdimla^ X Mountain Pine.^^ — ^A tall tree affording fine timber,
harder than the Sugar Fine, and might be preferred, if its position near
the summits of- the Sierra did not make it difficult of access.
Pintm FiexiViS.\ — This pine grows in the form of a low scrubby tree
on windy heigbthSj so stout and thick that a man can stand on its top.
In low altitudes it reaches a height of one hundred feet It is useful
only for firewood.
Pinus MmwphfUa^ — This is a stinted, twisted tree ; grows on the
eastern slope of the Sierra, corresponding to the Nut Pino of the west-
em slope. The cone is ill shaped and has an offensive odor, but yields
a sweet mit* Spanish nam© : **piuon/*
There are several species in the group of Coast Pines, viz: P, Lla--
vena, east of San Diego ; P. Deflexa^ on the summit of California moun-
tains ; P. Torretjana, near San Diego ; P. Bcd/ouTiana — this species is
found near Scott s valley, in Northern California*
Five species of the above list, the Inslgnw^ Muricaiaj Llavenea^ Del-
fkxa^ and Torrtpma^ are peculiar to the sea coast Five species, the
C(mtmtaj Ponfknmt, Lamhertiana^ Sabiniaua, and Ttiherculata, are found
both in the Coast Eange and Sierra Nevada* The CouIUtI is only found
in the coast Range, eastern slope ; tho M&nticola only high in the Sierra;
tlie Flexilis only on the upper Sierra and lower slope of tho same ; and
tlie Momphjlla only on the eastern slope.
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512 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
OAEB.
Querciis agrifdioy (Nees.), Calif omia Live Oak. — OaMand, banks
of Sacramento river, Clear Lake, Bnssian Biver valley, Anderson's val-
ley, Monterey. Foliage extremely variable, the live oak exhibiting
almost every conceivable size and form of oak leaf. On river banks
and its localities near the coast, where it feels the influence of the daily
fogs, this tree displays much uniformity. In the valleys of the interior
the shapes of the leaves of one and the same tree difler materially. In
Anderson's valley there are several trees, the entire foliage of which
agrees well with Dr. Kellogg's Q. moreJms. On dry gravelly hill-sides
in the interior this tree presents still another form, Q, Wislizeni (Eng.)
As it has the habit of growing in groups, one might suppose that trees
of one group, at least, should show uniformity in botanical characters;
yet this does not happen, the very extremes sometimes occurring in a
single group. The acorns ripen annually, and difler also essentially in
shape and size. Soil, climate, and exposition, offer in this case no
satisfactory explanation for so great a variation in one species. It is
no doubt justly referable to some intrinsic peculiarities. This tree
makes excellent firewood, and is also used for certain mechanical pur-
poses.
Q, ChrryanOy (Hook.), White OaL — On dry easterly hill-sides and
in valleys on a poor, buff-colored clay. Santa Bosa valley. Clear Lake,
Searsville, Anderson's valley, San Jos^ valley. Exposition and soil
agree in all these localities ; bark rather thin, whitish, and less coarsely
rimose than any other of the California oaks. This wood possessing a
fine grain, is much employed among farmers for making agricultural
implements.
Quercus fulvescens, (Kellogg), Fulvous Oak, is a deciduous tree,
grows about thirty feet high. The acorn, when young, is concealed in
the cup, the two together resembling a little wheel ; the former, when
mature, is an inch and a half long, and projects considerably beyond
the cup. The wood is tougher than most of the oaks of California.
Banks of Canoe creek.
Quercua KeUoggii, (Newb.), Eellogg*s Oak. — ^Is a lai^e deciduous
tree, found only in California. Its leaves are deeply sinuate, with
three principal lobes on each side, terminating in several acute points.
It bears fruit only in alternate years, or at least most abundantly every
other year. An idea prevails that the acorns give to swine a disease
of the kidneys. Hills about San Francisco and Fort Beading.
Q. Vaccini/olia, the Huckleberry4eafed Oak, is a shrub from foflr
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tLORA. 513
to six feet high, wliich grows on the mountains in the northern part of
the State. Its leaves in size and form resemble those of the huckle-
berry ; the acorn is of the size and shape of a small hazel nut.
Castanoa Chrysophylloy (Dougl.,) Golden-leafed Chestnut, or the
"Western Chinquapin. — On the Oakland hills this species is from three
to six feet high ; blooms early in July, like the Eastern Castanea vesca,
and bears perfect fruity edible and palatable. About Mendocino City
it is a large tree, averaging from fifty to one hundred and twenty-five
feet in height, and from two to three feet in diameter. On the Oak-
land hiUs it grows only on the outcropping of a white friable slate,
destitute of all vegetable remains. On the Mendocino plains it grows
on a cemented gravel, upon which the water rests for some months
after the rainy season. The supply of an serial moisture during the
dry season is in favor of the Oakland hills, judging by the lichenose
vegetation of the two localities.
Q. Mndsii, (Benth), Calif omia White Oak, or Long Acomed Oak. —
This is the characteristic oak of California; seldom reaches a greater
height than sixty f eet^ and in its expansive branches is often wider than
it is high — ^measuring sometimes one hundred and twenty-five feet from
side to side. This tree furnishes no straight timber, and the wood is
so soft and brittle as to be of little use except for burning. The acorns
are large, sometimes two and a half inches long and formerly consti-
tuted the chief article of food of the Califomian Indians.
Q. Lobatdy (Ne^s.), Burr Oak. — ^The most common and largest Oak
of California; found in all the valleys of the interior; never outside.
It is. a large and beautiful tree, this being the Oak, with its peculiar
drooping branches, which imparts such a picturesque charm to the
landscapes of California. It is specially noted for its long acorns,
usually occun-ing in pairs. This oak presents about the longest trunk
of all California foliaceous trees. The acorn of this species is also a
favorite article of food with the aboriginal races. The wood ranks next
to that of the Q. DouglassiL
Q. Douglasiif (Hook.), Pale Oak, Anderson Valley. — ^The general
aspect and habit of this tree resemble very much those of Quercus
lohcdOj with which it growfi in the low flat portion of Anderson Valley.
Its branchlets, however, are short, rigid and erect, while those of the
Querciis hbcUa are most drooping. In the autumn, when laden with
fruit, it presents a striking difference by having its rather pale acorns
aggregated and clustered at the extremities of the branchlets. At a
distance it strongly resembles a full-grown apple tree. It increases
rapidly in number in Anderson Valley, from south to north, outnum-
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614 THE NATUBAL "VTBALTH OF GALIFOBNUl
bering almost every other oak at the lower end of the valley. Its wood
ranks next to that of the Q. Oarryana.
The three species last above mentioned^ belonging to the section of
White Oaks, are sufficiently unlike in external appearance to be dis-
tinguished at a distance — ^the farmer readily detecting the difference by
the unequal qualities of the wood.
Q. SonomensiSy (Benth.), Black Oak. — ^Found at San Di^o, Ander-
son Yalley, Auburn, eastern and northern hill-sides in the Coast
Banges. It also occupies the more easterly situated fiats, among the
redwoods. Seldom found in the valleys; when occurring there they
occupy that portion adjacent to the hill-sides, where there is generally
a graveUy soil. In the fall it sheds its leaves, which become buff
colored, before any other of the deciduous oaks. Wood is of a poor
quality, being used only for fuel.
( Q. densifloray (Hook.), Chestnut OaL — ^Along the Coast Bange in-
creases towards the north, from Santa Cruz to Mendocino City; occurs
only in or near the redwoods. This tree attains a considerable height
in dense woods, and is then but sparingly branched; leaves and acorns
rather abimdant; the wood is coarse-grained, wet and spongy when first
cut, and hence, like the redwood, is by some termed Water Oak. The
bark is very rich in tannin, and is extensively used for the curing of
hides. The wood is extremely perishable.
Q. Chrysolepia, (Liebm.), Drooping Live Oak. — ^The most rare of all
our oaks; it bears acorns but seldom and sparingly; foimd near Clover-
dale, in Auburn Valley, and near Forest Hill; thirty to forty feet high,
with a rather smooth whitish' bark, and mostly long, slender, drooping
branches — evergreen. The tree being rare, and occupying moist slopes
along the gulches^ is not often cut down.
CEDABS.
Libocedrus decwrrenSy (Torr.), the California White Cedar. — ^This
noble and hardy evergreen is reported on the Klamath moimtains at five
thousand feet elevation, and also on Scott river, in sandy soils, growing
from forty to one hundred and forty feet high, and from five to seven
feet in diameter It is found also at Forest Hill, forming quite exten-
sive forests there ;^Bancheria creek, Mendocino county^; east of Salinas
river, Monterey county ; and east of San Diego. As the peculiar form
of this tree is little known, it may be stated that the cones are very
small, oblong oval, the feathery scales in opposite pairs, face to
face — a few small abortive ones at the base ; leaves awl-pointed — ^little
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FLORA. 615
scales^ in opposite pairs, ronning down the twigs — as the specific name
implies. The generic name signifies '' incense cedar, " on account of
the fragrant odor it emits when burned.
Cupr€88U8 fragrans, the Fragrant Cedar. — ^This is found along the
northern coast of the State. It is a large tree and produces a white,
clear lumber, valuable, for furniture, and inside work of houses. The
wood has a strong; lasting, and not impleasant odor.
Cupressus Lawsonianay Lawson's Cedar. — ^This is a tree of little value.
Cupresmis macrocarpoy (Hartn.), Monterey Cypress. — ^This is found at
Cypress Point, Monterey — its principal locality; Tamalpais, at a height
two thousand seven himdred feet ; Mendocino City, and southeast of
Clear Lake. This species seems to be very variable. At Cypress Point
there is an extensive grove, containing mostly large trees of great
beauty, and perfection ; average height, from forty to sixty feet —
circumference, nine to ten feci At this point these trees are almost
daily wrapped in a dense fog. Their branches are very compactly
lapped, retaining the moisture to such an extent that the thick clusters
of cones are quite mouldy. Between the cones and these little branch-
lets, a great deal of rubbish settles, which is often dripping wet It is
undoubtedly owing to this fact that so many seeds of this species col-
lected there prove abortive.
FIBS.
Abies Dauglasiif (LindL) Eed Fir, or Douglass Spruce. — ^This is,
as remarked by Dr. Newberry, one of the grandest of the group of
giants that form the forests of the Wesi This tree is generally of large
size, attaining a height often of three hundred feet, and a diameter of
ten feet. Wood strong, but coarse and imeaven in grain — the layers of
each year's growth being soft on one side, and very hard on the other.
The timber is much used for rough work in houses, and in ship-bmld-
ing. The tree grows in deep forests on the Sierra Nevada and Cascade
mountains, from 35^ to 49^, and near the coast, north of 39*^.
PweOy or Abies Bradeaia, (Don.), Leafy-coated Silver Fir, Santa
Lucia Fir.— First discovered by Douglass on the mountains of the Col-
umbia river ; in Upper California, on the Santa Lucia mountains^ at
an elevation of about three thousand feet above the level of the sea.
Leaves solitary, furrowed, alternate ; bright, lively green above — ^two
white silvery lines below. The branches are in whorls, slender and
spreading — the lower ones drooping. Trunk very slender and perfectly
straight ; commonly clothed to the ground, although often naked on the
lower third ; two or three feet in diameter ; one hundred and twenty
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616 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBKIA.
feet high. This tree produces a rosin used by the Catholic priests as
incense.
Abies WiUiamsonii, (Newb.), Yellow Fir, or Williamson's Spruce. —
This tree bears a close resemblance to the Red Fir, and the two trees
are usually found in company with each other.
Abies Mermesii, (DougL), Black Fir. — Smaller, and of little value.
Picea grcmdis, (DougL), White Fir, or Western Balsam Fir. — ^This
Fir attains a height of one hundred and fifty feet, and a diameter of
seven feet. The bark of the young trees contains numerous cysts full
of the resinous fluid called the '* balsam of fir.*'
MISCELIiANEOUS TREES.
Ibrreya Ccdi/omica, (Torr.), California Nutmeg. — ^Found in the coast
moimtains near the bay of San Francisco; paper mill, Marin county;
Ukiah, where there is quite a group; Mendocino City and Forest HiU.
This graceful and beautiful evergeen grows from fifty to seveniy-five
feet high. The fruit is like a nutmeg in size and shape, but it has a
disagreeable terebinthine taste, and is never used as a condiment;
wood valuable.
Ibxiis brevi/olid, (Nuti), California Tew Tree. — ^This handsome
tree is found at Devil's Canon, near Forest Hill; twenty to thirty feet
high, with extremely slender and drooping branches; dispersed but
plentiful ; wood valuable.
Oreodaphne Cali/omica, (Nees.), California Laurel, or Bay. — ^Beauti-
ful evergreen ; very common in the coast valleys, where it grows to a
height of fifty feet, with a trunk sometimes thirty inches in diameter.
Leaves dark green, lustrous, four inches long, one inch wide, sharp at
both ends, with smooth edges; foliage dense. The wood is grayish in
color, very hard, durable, difficult to split, and bears a very high
polish; used extensively as veneer; wood and leaves have an aromatic
odor resembling Bay Bum ; used as a condiment ; odor causes some
persons dizziness and headache.
Arctostophylos Glaiica, (Lindl.), Manzanita. — ^Is a dense claret-colored
shrub, growing as high as twelve feet, and nearly as broad as it is
high, in the coast valleys, and in the Sierra Nevada, up near to
the limit of perpetual snow; wood dense, hard, and dark red in color;
bears a pinkish white blossom in clusters, which are replaced by
round red berries about half an inch in diameter, of a pleasant,
acidulous taste, being often eaten by the Indians and grizzly bears.
The name means "little apple," from the Spanish, Manza. The wood
is used for the manufacture of smoking pipes, etc.
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FLORA. 617
Arbtdus Menziesii, (Pursh.), Madrona. — ^This evergreen, one of the
most striking trees of the California forest, acquires sometimes a
height of fifty feet ; diameter two feet ; grows open, somewhat like
the maple ; leaves lustrous, bright green, oval in shape, three inches
long, pea-green underneath, and dark-skinned above ; bark of a bright
red — smooth, and peels off at regular seasons. The new bark is of a
pea-green ; wood very hard, and employed to some extent in the arts,
especially for making the wooden stirrups commonly used in this State.
The tree bears a bright red berry, in clusters of which the birds are
found.
.^Skculua Cali/omica, (Nutt.), the Calif omian Horse-Chestnut, or
Buckeye. — ^Abundant in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and coast val-
leys ; a low-spreading tree, or shrub ; grows about rocky ledges, in
ravines, and on the banks of streams ; rarely exceeds fifteen feet in
height ; has a hemispherical shape, very dense foliage, rising from the
groimd in a globular form ; five leaves grow together on one stem ; is
among the first to open of the deciduous trees of California. This
tree bears heavy clusters of fragrant blossoms from early spring till
late in the summer. The fruit is large and abundant, and is still used
as an article of food by such California Indians as depend upon wild
fruits and game for their subsistence.
SHRUBS AND PLANTS.
Among the various trees and shrubs found in California, is the
Coeanothus, commonly called Wild, or California Lilac, of which there
are many species. It is a beautiful evergree;i shrub, growing about ten
feet high ; has a dense foliage, produces a multitude of little twigs, and
may be trimmed into almost any shape. On these trees is found the
California silk-worm {Satumia Califomica).
Ehus toxicodendron^ the Poison Oak, grows abundantly in the Sacra-
mento basin and along the coasi If it can attach itself to an oak tree,
it becomes a parasite vine, and attains a thickness, though very rarely,
of four inches in the trunk, and climbs to a height of forty feet. To
some persons the touch of the leaf is poisonous, causing an irritating
eruption of the skin ; its effect is sometime^ felt even by passing to
the leeward of the bush on a windy day, or going through the smoke of
a fire in which it is burning.
The Willow and Cottonwood of California differ little in appear-
ance from those of the Mississippi vaDey.
BJiamnus Purschianus, D. (7., Pursh's Alder, Buckthorn, is found
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618 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA.
growing at Etireka, to a height of from thirty to forty feet, and about
one foot in diameter. The wood is of a bright, beautiful yellow color,
like boxwood, or fustic. The timber is said to be firm, straight-grained
and fine for cabinet makers, taking a remarkably fine polish.
Jlnns Oregona, (Nuti), Oregon Alder. — ^The cognomen alder is asso-
ciated in the public mind with some sort of bush or shrub ; but the
species of this coast, designated as Oregon Alder, is a handsome, up-
right tree, from two to four feet in diameter, and from forty to eighty
feet high. This tree is distributed chiefly throughout middle and
northern California and Oregon, growing always along the banks of
living streams. The wood does not split readily, as the woven fibers
render it tough. It is neither hard nor very durable, but takes a
smooth, delicate polish; makes good gun-powder charcoal, the bark
being used for tanning. In times of scarcity the leaves afford good
fodder for sheep.
Berberis Herbosa, (Pursh.), Mahonia glumacceOy Barberry, or False
Oregon Grape. — ^A low sub-shriib, fouiid in piney woods along the
coast, northward into Oregon. Berries deep-blue, in clusters somewhat
resembling frost-grapes^ hence the name ; flavor strongly acid, but
eatable, and used for making pies, tarts, etc.
Ephedra, Joint Fir, Tar-weed. — ^Found on the river bars in the
interior ; used as a tea for medicinal purposes ; has a long, slender
pointed leaf, resembling that of the pine.
The Wild Cherry and Plum of California grow on bushes, the fruit
resembling the cultivated, except that it is smaller and of inferior
flavor.
Leunaia rediviva, White Lewisia ; Indian name, Spatvlunu — ^Eoot
large; fusiform; outer portion dingy — dinner snowy white and farinaceous
beautiful white flowers closing up early in the afternoon; roots eaten
by Indians; abound, in concentrated nutriment — a single ounce of the
dried sufficing for a meal ; found in the State of Nevada — scarlet
variety in Tulare county, California; possesses great prospective value
as an edible root, since it could, no doubt, be easily grown in almost
any soil, and would greatly improve in size and flavor with cultivation.
Adcea rubra, Bed Baneberry. — Stem two to three feet high ; sends
up in the spring one or more large compound leaves ; flowers in April
and May ; oblong, egg-shaped, shining red berries ; ripen in July
and August ; both root and berries poisonous ; reputed medicinal.
Sarracenia purpurea, Pitcher Plant. — ^Found a few miles south of
Mi Shasta^ along the marshy banks of a small creek; flower-stem two
to four feet high; flowers pale-purple, two inches across; bloom in
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FLOEJU 519
May ; leaves contorted, and abont tliree feet long ; flowers pitclier-
slmped, the California species differing from those elsewhere iu having
the opening on the under side ; hence, it contains less water — only sach
moisture aa it gathers from evaporation or its own secretions. The
throat of the orifice exudes a sweetisli substance attractive to flies and
other insects, whieh having entered it are unable to escape, owing to
the inside of the flower being set with slender hairs pointing down-
wards, like the i^dres in a mouse-trap. In this manner the flower
becomes often half filled with the foetid accumulations of these decay-
ing insects. It is considered both a preventive and sovereign euro for
small poi^ the Indians having the greatest confidence in its virtues as
such. It is considered a valuable addition to the Materia Medica*
Arnica mofliSf Soft Arnica.— Found along moontiiin ri\"ulet8 and
ravines; in Uie redwood landSj and along tlie coast. Plant from two to
three feet high, 2>ale green color, clothed with so fi^ fine glutinous hair;
has a bitterish taste^ resembling that of the duudeliou root — but
more balsamic and biting ; exhales an odor slightly like that of the
apple blossom* Abounds in strychnine, and is, therefore, useful in all
diseases where that substance is indicated. The tincture is also used
for bruises, sprains, etc. Though its salts, when extracted, are a
deadly poison, rabbits and other wild animals feed on it greedily^ and
with impunity.
Silenc Srtndari^ the Catchfly, — Plant from two to three feet high.
Flowers— light lively red above^ paler beneath. Stalk, except lower
part, covered with velvety, viscid glandular hairs, to which flies and
other insects adhere when lighting upon them — whence the name>
Leaves — five to eight inches long, and one inch and a quarter wide.
Liiium deeurrem, and L. trisepahtm, California Flaxworis,' — There
are several species of wild flax in California, two or three of which are
found growing on the hi Us aboiit San Francisco. The most common
kind, the L, CaU/omicMm, is an annual herb, about one foot in height,
much branched, with few leaves below ; flowers, whitish, or slightly
pink-tinged ; found in Sacramento valley, back of Oakland^ and in many
other places. Several bales of this plant were collected near Maiysville
a few years ago, and sent to San Francisco under the supposition tiiat
it was "canchalagua," the popular fever and ague remedy, with which
it really docs possess many properties in common. One species of this
wild flax bears large blue flowers ; another, yellow flowers in May and
June,
C^nipa Sali€ifl(yra^ WiUow-leaf Flea-bane. — Aboimds in salt and
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520 THE NATURAL WRALTR OF CALIFOBNIA.
fresh water marshes, and in shallow upland ponds ; perennial ; ever-
green— ^blooming from September to April ; from six to ten feet high,
resembling a willow at a distance. Leaves — ^lancelate ; seeds — rough
and silky ; plant and leaves, when braised, emit an unpleasant odor,
something like a mixtore of camphor and bitter-weed. It is employed
to make flea powders^ also useful for dispersing gnats — Whence the
name.
SlerocJdoa froffrans, fragrant, variable Grass. — ^Found on banks of
Paper Mill Creek, Marin county, growing in tufts ; blooming about
first of April, (Bolander) ; also grows on old logs, and in forks of low
trees ; grass two to three feet high ; slightly rough ; roots perennial,
creeping ; leaves six to fourteen inches long, one quarter to three quar-
ters inch wide, long pointed, rough, and bright green color ; is used
in this country for scenting clothes ; in some parts of Europe is strewn
before the church-doors on festival days.
Marrdlu — ^Two species in California^ one also on Cerros Island,
coast of Lower California ; purgative and tonic — ^used in early settle-
ment of the State as a substitute for quinine.
Bahmus. — Shrub four to six feet high ; wood hard and fine grained.
Native Califomians extracted from it an alkaline salt^ much used as a
tonic. Grows in barren, stony grounds.
Barcodes Sanguinea, California Snow-Plant — ^Found growing near
the edges of, and even in the snow, along the sides of the Sierra.
Specimens found by Kellogg, opposite Sitka. Is a parasite, growing
from decayed wood on the soil ; abounds with gallic acid.
Chlorogalum pomeridianurn, (Kunth.), the Soap Plant of California —
Amole. — ^The bulbous root contains a large quantity of saponincy and
when rubbed in water makes a lather like soap, and is good for remov-
ing dirt It was extensively used by the Indians and Spanish Cali-
fomians previous to the American conquest The Amole has a stalk
four or five feet high, from which branches about eighteen inches long
spring out The branches are covered with buds, which open in the
night, beginning at the root of the boughs, about four inches of a
branch opening at a time. The next night the buds of another four
inches open, and so on. Is found from the upper Sacramento valley to
Monterey.
Strawberries, Blackberries, Currants, Baspberries, and Salmon-
berries are all indigenous, and in a few localities abundani^ though
inferior in size, and the most of them also in flavor.
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FLOIU. 521
Willie the grasses of Calif arnia are nameroiis in variety, and the
most of tliem valuable for pasturage, few are well adapted for making
hay; wherefore, it may yet become iieoesaary to import foreign varieties
for meeting this want> provided such can be found suited to our peculiar
cUmate. It may be easy to find grasses adapted to those portions of
the State situated within tlie foggy regions along the coast, especially
west of the redwoods. But to find tho»6 that will survive the long dry
sumjners in the interior valleys, and on the foot-hills, will be difficulty
if not impracticable*
Avena/alua, (Liim.), the Wild Oat* — Among the indigenous nutri-
tiauB grasses, this is the best yet found for making fodder, save the
cereals so\\ti expressly for the pui"pose. The Wild Oat, in ilie year 1835,
was found only south of the Bay of Ban Francisco; but about that time,
when the whites began to cross frequently from the soutliem to the
nortliern side of the bay, this grain being sown in a natural way by
horses and cattle^ spread rapidly over the Sacramento valley and
the coast region, its range now being very extensive* It grows luxuri-
antly, surpassing in some localities the cultivated grain both in height^
size and abuudauce of stalks.
Lately the Wild Oat has been eaten down so closely by cattle,
that in many places it has been killed out, and is fast disappearing
in California on account of the country having been overstocked.
This grain is propagated not by the rootsj but by the seeds, many of
which fall into cracks in tlie earth, opening in every direction during
the dry season, where they lio in safety until the rains come, when the
ground closes up and the grain sprouts. The position of these cracks
of one year may often be traced the next season by tiie stalks of the
grain. The Wild Oat grows both on the hills and plains* The berry
is so much shrunken that it is never threshed like other grain.
Afrf^m CaU/ornica, (JIanro), Squirrel Grass*—'' Comes iu after the
WUd Oats have become exterminated by close feeding. Foliage of no
value,'* (Prof. Brewer)* Very common throughout the State; perennial;
March and April.
Quite late in the season (July and August) the drj' hills are covered
with another species of grass, the GtJ^ridium Austraiioj (Beauv.), or Ml-
mm Icndifierum, (Linn.) San Jose, in November, This has not before
been noticed as a North America plant. Steudel states that it has
been found in Chili. It is one of those few annual gregarious grasses
that cover our hills. Many consider it an inta-oduced species, but its
general distribution over the State, its character, with the fact that it
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522 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
is a native of the countries of the Mediterranean (with which we have
so many plants in common, especially of the lower orders), favor the
presumption of its being an indigenous plant Indefinite opinion
regarding its value.
On the Oakland hills, and in San Francisco, on north hill-side%
and in swamps, a species of coarse salt gras» is found, Calamagro9lu
alerUica, (Trin.), forming large tufts ; leaves very long and wide ; g«i-
erally breaking off a little above the sheaths. During winter, when
feed is scarce, it is eaten by cattle. June ; perennial.
The Aira darUhonioides (Trin,), is found in moist meadows, forming
often a large bulk of the grass. Oakland. In some localities it occurs
sparingly ; common in the Bussian Biver valley ; yields but little hay.
April ; annual.
Arrhenatherum ctvenaceum, (Beauv.), Oat Grass. — Observed in a
cultivated field at Mendocino City, where it had been sown with
Holcus lancUuSy both grasses looking remarkably well. • In Germany it
is known under the name of " French rag grass." The roots are stolo-
niferous; perennial, and spread rapidly ; the culms attain a height of
from three to five feet ; leaves plentiful and large. It yields a good
deal of hay in dry, fertile soils.
Poa jyraiensisy (Linn.), Green Meadow Grass. — ^Meadows at Oak-
land, sparingly ; roots stoloniferous ; perennial ; April. Thrives best
on rather dry meadows.
On drifting sand-hills west of San Francisco, and near Bolinas Bay,
grows a low, beautiful, dioecious perennial grass, Brizopyram Douglasiiy
(Hook.), with extremely long runners, adapted to confining the loose
sand and preventing it drifting further inland April. As a f odd^
grass, useless.
Another species of Brissopyrum qpicatum, (Hook.), Spike Grass,
grows in the salt marshes near the bay of San Francisco, and upon
saline soils in the interior. Useless for agricultural purposes. ApnL
In the wet and swampy places near San Francisco, in April, we find
the Olyceria pcmcijhroy (Presl.), also seemingly useless.
At Oakland, Santa Bosa valley, XJkiah, and in wet meadows, grows
a handsome and tender species of grass, of which horses and cattle are
fond, IjopJiochUena Ccdi/omica, (Nees.) Is not capable of resisting heavy
winds when grown alone. Mixed with other grasses, however, it would
do most excellent. This is probably the only uncontested indigenous
grass of California, deserving especial attention. Gregarious in man-
ner of growth ; annual — ^ApriL
The Kcderia Cristaia, (Pers.)— Beadily eaten by cattle, though not
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FLORA. 623
the best of fodder grasses. Perennial — ^ApriL Found on dry hills —
Oakland, San Francisco, Cloyerdale.
Festuca ScabreUoy (Torr.), Bnnch-grass. — ^North hillsides and lightly
shaded wood? — the less shaded, the larger the tufts grow. Blades
long, and break oflf just above the sheaths. During the winter cattle
are fond of it, eating off the tufts as closely as possible. Yery abund-
ant along the shady hill sides of the Coast Bange. April — ^perennial
Ikstuca ovina, (Linn.), Sheep's Fescue Grass. — Dispersed sparingly.
Found on Oakland hills. Gives but a small bulk, but forms a nutri-
tious food. April — ^perennial.
Festuca pratensisy (Hends.), Meadow Fescue Grass. — ^This grass
yields ^ large bulk of hay of superior quality ; thrives well in dry and
wet meadows, if the soil is fertile. Found at Tomales Bay. April —
perenniaL
Lolium perenney (Linn.), Bay, or Bye Grass. — ^Found always near
dwellings, quite sparingly. April, May — ^perennial.
Lolium tremtdentum, (Linn.), Bearded Darnel. — ^Very common among
grain ; f oimd at Oakland, and in other parts of the State. Grains of this
grass are considered to be noxious, and poisonous to men and beasts.
Haller affirms that this species of lolium not only produces intoxication,
as its specific name implies, but that if baked into bread or fermented in
ale, its administration produces headache, vertigo, vomiting, lethargy,
drunkenness, and difficulty of speech — causing a trembling of the
tongue, and even fatal effects. By the Chinese laws, for this plant is
found both in China and Japan, it is forbidden to be used in fermented
liquors. According to Withering, horses are killed by it, and dogs are
particularly subject to its influences, when mixed in small quantities
with their food. It is, however, said to fatten chickens and hogs.
JSordeum prcUeiisee, (Huds.), Wild Barley. — Quite common in many
meadows ; in some it makes up a considerable portion of the bulk of
grass growing. April, May.
Eordeum murinum, (Linn.), Wall Barley. — ^For roads and lots; found
at Spring valley; Mission Dolores. If allowed to insinuate itself into
meadows it injures the hay and lessens the value of the crops. Its
strong beards (arms) hurt the mouths of horses.
Among the second species of nutritious herbs indigenous to Cali-
fornia, and valuable to our herdsmen, is the Alfilerilla, Erodium cictt-
tarium, (L'Herit). It is succulent, sweet, hardy, bearing clusters of
spikes or pins an inch and a half long. These spikes have given it the
name of Fin Grass; and the resemblance of its leaves to the geranium
has suggested the name of ''Wild Geranium." It has a large root,
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624 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
which it sends deep into the gronnd, thus enabling it to resist the
droughty while above the surface it puts forth a dense mass of stalks
and leaves, spreading sometimes several feet in every direction. Cattle
prefer it to every other indigenous herb of the State.
California possesses also several species of clover, especially the
White California Clover, having a large yellowish-white bloom ; grows
very large, sometimes two feet high, in moist, favorable situations ;
while in dry places it will also mature its seeds without rising more
than two or three inches above the ground. It is very sweet, and is
often eaten by the Indians, who like it both raw and boiled. Cattle
also are exJxemely fond of ii
The '* Burr Clover," so named from a spherical burr, about a quarter
of an inch in diameter, which it bears in clusters of three. It is found
in all the settled parts of the State. Cattle do not like it when green,
but after it dries the burrs fall upon the ground and are picked up
by the cattle.
Phaca NuUalii, (Tor. and Gray), the Indian Pea, or Pop-pea, called
sometimes Bladder-pea, or Battle-weed, a cause of serious injury to
wooL In close cropped fields, where horses and cattle are pinched
for hunger, it is sometimes eaten, and is apt to prove fatal. This plant
is a pest of high dry pastures, those presumed to be best adapted for
sheep grazing. The symptoms are a peculiar infatuation, or intoxica-
tion, under the effects of which the animal becomes stupid, )and finally
pines away and dies.
The variety and abundance of wild flowers in California are large,
each month having its special growth. In the valleys of the coast
mountains is found the Yerba buena, Spanish for " good herb," a creep-
ing vine, bearing some resemblance in its leaves and vine to the wild
strawberry. It hea a strong perfume, between peppermint and cam-
phor, and possesses valuable medicinal properties.
ErythrcBa MiUhbenbergii, (Griesb.), "Canchalagua."— Is a native of
California; grows plentifully on the low grounds bordering Suisun Bay,
for which high medicinal virtues are claimed; the flowers are rose-red,
numerous and very pretty, in April and May.
Daucua pusiUus, (Michn.), the "Yerba de la vibora," (Spanish for
rattlesnake). — ^This plant resembles somewhat the Wild Carrot, and has
some reputation among the native Calif omians as a remedy for the bite
of venomous serpents, but its efficacy is very doubtful.
Of the properties and practical uses of the Flora Medica of Cal-
ifornia but little is yet known, and it might be well for our physicians
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FLOEA. 625
and pliarmacntista to make more careful examination into tliis depart^
mant of botanit^al science.
FliOfTERnra PLANTS AKH GHBimd*
These are wide spread and numerous in CaEfomia^ the purely
native all differing from the same species in other countries* Beveral
varieties of the wild rase grow here, none of which have correspond-
ing types elsewhere. A number of speeieSj identical with those of
foreign lands, are found growing wikl, and apparently indigenous in
this State, which were originally, no doubt^ introduced from abroad*
So numerous are these flowers in their sei^on, as to form a marked
feature, not only in the botany, but also in the landscape scenery of
California. In the spring of the year, the time for most of them to
bloom, they co%"or not only tlie plains and foot-hills, but grow in many
places to the very tops of the mountains. The forests are nearly every-
where filled with them, and even the arid prairies and deserts are often
adorned by their presence* The different classes and genera do not
usually intennix, but grow segregated in patches, some of which cover
acres, and sometimeB even square miles of space. Nothing can bo
more gorgeous than these vast fields of wild flowers, when andyed at
full perfection. In the months of April and May, the whole country
decked with its floral Jewelry, set in the deep-hued verdure, presents
a picture not easily found outside of California, But it is a noticeable
feature of the flowers of this coast, that while they possess remarkable
elegance of form, as well as variety and brilliancy of color, they are as
a general thing deficient in odor. A few of them possess this property
in a high degree, the ccBunothis^ and some other classes, filling the air
when in bloom with their fragrance. How far, if at all, cultivation
will aid in developing in them the odoriferous property, has not been
fully establiBlied by practical tests^ though it will probably tend to
supply this defect, at least in some cases. That this lack of odor is,
however, inherent in tlie plant and not the result of soil, climate, or
other accident, is shown by the fact that imported flowers grown hero
do not loose the perfume natural to them elsewhere*
Among the more beautiful and fragrant flowers found in California,
the Lily and Syringa family are conspicuous; some of the latter form-
ing large trees; which, when in bloom, are so completely enveloped
with cone-like clusters as to suggest the presence of small wJiite clouds
resting on the verge of the horizon. These flowers, omiting the pleas-
ant odor peculiar to their kind, fill the air for a long way around with
the most delicious perfume; and although the wild flowers of California
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626 THE NATtJBAL WEALTH OP OALIPOBNIA.
are so generally inodorous, the atmosphere, owing to their incredible
numbers, and the fact that a few are highly fragrant, is fairly oppressed
with the rich aroma thrown off by them in the spring and early summer.
OBTPTOOAMIA — ^FIiOWEBI<B88 PI1ANT8.
This class is noticeable for its numbers and variety; already over
one hundred species of mosses having been described. Some of these
mosses, drooping from the forest trees, add much to the beauty and
picturesqueness of the scenery in many of the interior valleys of the
State. Any reference to these more simple and lowly products of the
vegetable world is apt to suggest in the popular mind the idea of
inutility and worthlessness; yet, many individuals of this class attain
great size, such as the ferns and sea-weeds, the former where humidity,
heat and shade are present to favor their growth, sometimes attaining
a height of forty feet or more; while the latter, especially on the north-
em coast, often grow to a prodigious length. In the harbor of Victoria,
and in the bays around the island of Vancouver, the Algse often reach a
length of a hundred feet or more, covering the bottom so completely
as to hide it from sight, and swaying in the most graceful manner with
the tide.
PdyporuSy Fungi or Mush-rooms. — The largest species found in
California is the "Touchwood, or Hard Tinder," of a semi-circular
shape, between one and two feet across, and from six to eight inches
long; found generally on the trunk of the Laurel Tree. The common
small species, with variegated, concentric rings (P. V€rsicoloT\ is used
to lure insects for examination with the microscope. We find also,
generally in meadows and after a rainy night, large quantities of the
Agaricus Compestris, or "Edible Mushroom." As mushrooms vary in
quality with climate, meteoric conditions, soils, etc., the safest way is
to eat only those raised in gardens.
LicJiem. — ^The barks of most of our trees are covered with several
varieties of lichens, characteristic of the species, the Evemia Vvlpma^
(Ach.), being found on the bark of our mammoth trees.
Among the parasitic fungi we find the white and black Mildew,
(Puccinia and Antennaria), which ruins wheat fields in the north, and
orange orchards in the south. Bust, or red mildew, ( Uredo rubigo), which,
however, is not so injurious as some others. Smut, (Uredo segetam).
Bunt, {Uredo caries), where the grain looks well, but is a mass of black
sporidia when crushed. The ergot of grasses, but chiefly of rye, better
known as ** spurred rye^" is poisonous in its effects.
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TLOBiL
527
CATALOGUE OF THE NATIVE TREES OF CALIFOBNIA.
Botanioil Name.
Pojralar Kune.
Height.
Feet.
LooaUty.
8bqvoia~
OigantM, (Endl.) 8yn.: WeUixigtoniji
Giganteft. (Lind.): Sequoia Welling-
tooia, (Seem.); Sequoia Oigantca,
(Torr.); Taxodium 6iganteam,(KeI-
logg&Bchr.)
Bemperviren8,(Lainb). Syn.: Taxodium
Sempcrvircns, (Lamb); Abies Ee-
ligioaa, (Schlecht'a Caiamys.)
Taxub—
Brevlfolla. (Nutt.)
TOfBRETA —
Callfornica, (Torr.); Myiistica,( Hook.)
Laurina, (Walp.) ; Bhua Laurina, (Nutt.)
OufKTA Tesota, (Gray.)
PABXXiraONXA—
Microphylla, (Torr.)
Aculeata. (Lion.)
Cebcidium Flobidxum, (Beuth.)
ADXK08T01CA—
F&Hclculata, (Hook.)
Bparsifolia, (ton.)
DaleA'—
^inoea, (Oray.) «^
IntegrifoUa, (Nutt.)
Berrata
AOACIA—
Oreggil, (Chrwr.)
Constricta, (Benth.)..
Cuspidata, (Schlecht.)
Famcsiana, (Willd); Carona, (Hook.).
BCBZirOCACTUS—
. Cylindraceus.
Wiallrcnl
Texana, (Soheelfi.)
Linearis, (D. O.)
TtCCA—
Baocata, (Torr.)
Draconis, (Linn.); Ver. Arboreacens. .
Aloifolia
Safisdacecb—
JEsculuB Califomica, (Nutt.)
Lasktaka Mkxicama, J3Ioric.)
PiBTACXA MEXICAI7A, (H. B. E.)
Obkvs I>ipkxala, (Hook.)
Aufua —
Bedwood: Califor'a Giant;
Calif. Mammoth Tree;
Oalifomia Big Tree.
Calif oniia Bedwood. ,
Western Yew
WUdNutmeg
Iron wood
Greenwood
Small leaved..
Prickly
Green Acacia....
Persimmon.
Japote
I^rnit-bearing Tuoca .
Oregana, (Nutt.).
■«. (D. 0.)..
Viridia,
Popui.ua—
Trlchocarpa, (Torr.)
MonoUfera, (Ait.)
Tremoloides, (Hichx.)
FBAXDTua Obsgaxa, (Nutt.)
ACBoaTAPHTLoa Glaucus— (LindL).,
AJRBUTU8 MEirzisan— (Pursh.)
Obzodaphxb Califobvioa, (Neee.)..
Cabtanka Chbxsophtixa. (Dougl.). .
QUKBCUfl —
Acutidens, (Toir.)
Agrifolia, (Necs; Nutt.)
- FulTeaccns. (Kellogg.)
Kelloggii, (Newb.)
HindBU7(Baith.)
Denaiflora, (Hook.)
Oarryana, (Hook.)
BouglaMii, (Hook.)
Lobata, (Neos.)
BonomenAiB, (Bcnth.)
Chryaolepis, (Liebm.)
Vaccinlfolla
Tbdya—
PlicaU, (Nees.)
Gigantea, (Nutt.)
PLAXA2IU8 BACKMOtA, (Nutt.) ,
Buckeye: Oil. Chestnut.,
Hediondo
Mexican Pistachia
Flowering Ash
Oregon Alder. ,
Green Alder. .
Hairy-pod Poplar. ...
Cottonwood
Quaking Aspen
Oregon Ash ,
Manzenita
Madrona
California Laurel
Western Chinquapin .
Sharptoothed Oak
Scrub or Evergreen Oak.
Fulvous Oak
KcUogg'sOak
Long-acomed Oak
Chestnut Oak
White Oak
Pale Oak
Burr Oak
Black Oak
Drooping Live Oak
Hucldeherry Oak
Arborvit©
Oregon Wliito Cedar.
Mexican Bycamoro. . . .
tfO
800
75
75
20
20
16
80*
30
15
SO
90?
15
25
25
80
15
40
15
20
20
60
70
60
40
10
30
70
50
20
40
30
30
«0
20
80
20
30
40
6
900
100
Tuolumne, Mariposa, Tulare
and Calaveras counties.
Coast; Latitude 3«o to 40.<'
Downieville.
Latitude 80«, Galifomia.
Santa Barbara.
Ban Pedro to Fort Tuma.
Fort Yuma.
Ban Pedro to Colorado river.
Near Ban Diego.
Ban Diego.
Colorado river.
San Diego.
Santa Barbara.
Burro mountains.
San Pedro, (tributary Gila.)
San Pedro river.
Laredo to Pecos river.
Colorado river.
ElPaso.
San Pedro river.
Ban Felipe.
Southern California.
We«t of the Colorado
Sierra Nevada.
Interior of the State.
Gulf of California.
Texas to San Diego, OsL
California.
Northern California.
Ca^Pass.
Los Angeles.
Sacramento river.
Sierra Nevada.
Upper Sacramento valley.
California mountains.
Sacramento valley.
Oakland; near San Gabriel.
Mendocino City.
San Luis Bey.
Sacramento valley.
Southern coast.
Coast of Col.; San Francisco.
Slopes of foothills.
Santa Cruz mountains.
Santa Bosa valley.
Clear Lake.
VaUeys of California.
San Diego; Auburn.
ForcRt HiU.
Northern California.
San Diego mountains.
San Diego mountains.
Feather river.
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528 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOEKLL
CataiiOoitb of Nautb Tbebs of Caufobnia — Contmned.
Botanical Kamft.
Popular Name.
Height.
Feet.
liOcaUty.
Fksa Obavpis, (Dou^.).
Donglaail, (Lindl.)
Mcnxic 8ii. (Doogl.)
Taxlf«lia, (Lamb.)
AmabUU, (Doogl.)
Brarhesta
Willir.rofionii. (Newb.)
LiBOcxDBVB DecuxBEin, (Torr.) .
JUVIPXRUS—
OcridentaUa
Pacbyploea, (Torr.)
Tetragona, (Scblecth.)
CuPBXMua —
Marrocazpa, (Hartn.)
Lawfoniana
OoTCBiana, (Oordon.)
Fragrana
PDrrs—
LsjDb«!fl£Mia. (Dnnf[L)
Sdliiftl^jju, (i)cvuAT.t
PoivifTc*** (D«ni|0O
lAjiglliM, fDoUjdT' '*'.
TuIn no ] at*. (Poll, J , 4
Mari4'ntj&, f Dotj )....,
Gjnti^iTta, (DtPtijjI.; Umd.)
MuroiJuit {limll.} . . ,
CottUeri.. ,
TorrvjuiSt iPiuTy j
IMItxa. (Ton. (
rirxliln, f Jartu:**,)
MfliMjpby Ha, (T*>fT ;^
UAYeiukiiJi, t>^-hf\'i/i <
Balf oorlaaa
JvoLiAMa BUFKBSTii, (Engelm.). . . .
Saux—
Brachyatachyn, (Bcnth.)
LaidolepU, (Benth.)
Pabeaoens, (Natt.)
KnttallU, (Aud.)
BeaaillB. (Torr.)
Pnrns flnruxjaoB
pBonifiA Akbittifolia, (Lindl.)..
Fbamoula Caijfohnica, (Gray.) .
Cebcu OcciDKmrALU, (Torr.) . . . .
OAAKOTHUe —
ThyniAomBt (Eflch.)
TorediacTU, (Hook.)
Canf«tu'., (Natt.)
iDtegcrrxmoA. (Hook.)
ProBtatua, (Benth.)
GSEABUft—
nicifolia, (Nirtt.)
Demiaaa, (Natt.)
Pbuihtb—
Subcordata, (Bcnth.)
Tim. (Linn.) —
Califomica, (Benth.)
HacTophyllnni. (Pursh.) .
Circinatom, (Pnrah.) ...
K»0U>DO—
Califomicnm, (H.Kr.)...
Weatecn Balaam Fir .
DoQfl^' Spmce
Black Fir
White Bproce
Oregon HUvcr Fir ,
Banta Lucia Fir
WiUiam^ion'B Bprucc
California White Cedar.
Utah Cedar
Thick.barked J..
Square-leaved J..
Long-f rait Cyxnmui. .
Cakfomia Cyprcsa. .
Flagrant Cedar..
Sugar Pine
Sabine's Pine...
Yelloi^Pinc
Monterey Pine..
Twiated Pino
Ifnrray'a Pine
Coulter'B Pino
Torrey'a Pino
Claw Scaled Pino
Bocky Mt. White Pine...
One-leaved Kut Pino . .
Bocky White Pine....
Walnut .
Wfllow
Holly-acaled.
Oreen Cornel
Oregon DoRwood . . . .
California Dogwood . ,
Oregon Crab Apple . .
California Buckthorn.
California Bedbad
OcBanothna ; WUd Lilac,
do do
do do
do do
do do
Wooly-lcaved Cherry.
Shm Dby Cherry
California Plum
California Orapevlne..
White Maple
Bound-leaved; Vine ICaple
California Box Elder. .
150 Sooofm. Calif omia.
800
70
70
100
ItfO
100
140
15
00
15
50
300
140
225
100
80
15
CO
40
70
60
60
50
60
50
40
15
40
20
15
10
6
20
90
40
30
Sierra Nevada.
Sierra Nevada.
San Francisco.
California.
Santa Lucia mountains.
Northern Calif omia.
California.
Mont<:rcy.
San Felipe.
Monterey to San Diego.
Monterey.
San Dii'go mountaina.
Northern coaat.
Northern California.
Mt J)iablo: csst of Sen Dicga
Bussian Bivcr vcllcy.
Carmelo valley; Monterey.
Forest Hill; bauta Cruz.
Monterey; Mendocino c:ity.
Toroales bay; Mendocino.
Siskiyou mountsins.
Santa Lucia mountaina.
Son Diego.
CajonPasa.
San Francisco mts, N. M.
Carson's Ptss, CaL
San Diego mountaina.
Scott'B vcllcy.
Loe Angeles.
Monterey.
California.
DniBeld'a rsncfa; San Diego.
Duffleld'a ranch; Monterey.
Grass Vcllcy.
Santa Bosa creek.
Monterey; San Diego.
California.
Sacramento river.
San Francisco.
Orass Valley.
Cocomongo.
Los Angeles.
Orass VallcT'.
Santa
Sonora.
Yuba river.
Fort Beading ; Son Diego.
Santa Barbara.
Mountains of OaUf omia.
Odiforaia.
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CHAPTER IX.
MTNING AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSES.
Gold— Placer Alining— The Shallow Placers— River Mining— The Deep Placers— Tunnel
Mining— Hydranlio Mining — Blue Gravel — The Great Blue Lead — White Cement —
Quartz, or Vein Mining — ^Mining Operations — Milling Machinery and Processes— The
Grass Valley System of Amalgamation — Amalgamation in Battery — The Mariposa
Process — Concentration— Plattner's Chlorination Process.
Although California is by no means wanting in the variety of its
metallic ores, yet the number of diflferent metals which, either in the
native state, or mineralized as ores, have hitherto been made the
object of successful and profitable exploitation, is comparatively small,
comprising only gold, mercury, copper, and silver. Platinum and
iridosmine are also incidentally obtained in small quantities, associ-
ated with placer gold. Deposits of lead ore have been found, but as
yet are undeveloped. Iron ores of very superior quality have been
discovered at several localities in great quantity. Some of these
deposits are in many respects favorably situated, and although their
distance from market, and the high prices of labor, transportation, etc.,
have so far prevented their being advantageously worked, yet, with
additional railroad facilities, and the introduction of cheaper labor,
this useful metal will no doubt shortly be produced in California in
ample supply for all home demands.
Among other metallic ores known to exist within the State, and
which possess a greater or less prospective commercial value, are zinc,
chromium, manganese, nickel, cobalt, arsenic, antimony, and tin.
Of the non-metallic mineral products already contributing to the
wealth of the State, the coal of the Monte Diablo mines is of primary
importance. Next to this is the borax of Clear Lake, to which may
be added native sulphur, and common salt, obtained in considerable
quantities — the latter, as yet, chiefly from the evaporation of sea water,
although extensive deposits of it exist in the solid form at various
34
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630 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA*
localities in the interior of the State. Asphaltum also, a product of
the southern counties, is used extensively for paving and roofing pur-
poses. Many other mineral substances occurring in California will
become of value for various manufacturing and commercial purposes in
the future, some of them even now being turned to profitable account
Though silver has been included in the list of its metallic products,
California can by no means be called a silver producing State — the
greater part of that shipped from San Francisco being furnished by
the mines of the State of Nevada. True, silver mines are not uncom-
mon in the southeastern part of the State, and some of them contain
very rich ores. This is especially the case in Alpine, Mono and Inyo
counties, lying east of the Sierras. Many attempts have been made to
mine and work these ores; but the veins are usually small, and mining
operations in these localities, under present conditions, can only be
conducted at a heavy expense. Besides, these ores, though often rich,
are generally among the more complex kinds, requiring peculiar treat-
ment Practical operations having, however, been mostly attempted
by men possessing little or no acquaintance with metallurgy, have gen-
erally resulted in failure. Under more skillful management these mines
could probably be worked with large and steady profits. The copper
ores found in that part of the State bordering on Arizona are usually
argentiferous, sometimes very highly so; and from these and other
sources, California will idtimately, no doubt, become a large producer
of silver. But at present most of the silver actually obtained in this
State is derived by separation from the gold, which always contains
more or less of it as an alloy — the amount procured from this source
not being large. Thus, it will be seen, silver is not a leading, but
rather an incidental product of California mining ; and the metallurgi-
cal treatment of its ores, though of vital importance in the adjoining
State of Nevada, is of little practical moment in California.
GOLD.
Among the mineral products of California, gold is incomparably the
most important metal. Rapid and immense as has been the development
of this branch of mining in California, it is yet, in view of future results,
scarcely more than barely entered upon, the repositories of this form of
wealth remaining comparatively intact. Gold, with rare exceptions, is
found in the native or metallic state. It is never, however, perfectly
pure, being always alloyed with more or less silver, and sometimes also
with small quantities of platinum, copper, iron, mercury, palladium,
iridium, rhodium, etc. It also occurs in a mineralized condition in
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MINDCG AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSES. 631
connection with other metals combined with tellurium. The minerals,
sylvanite and nagyagite, are examples of this mode of occurrence; and
other compounds of the same class, whose characteristics are as yet
but imperfectly known, have been found at Carson Hill, in Calaveras
county, at the Bawhide Banch Mine in Tuolumne county, and at a
few other localities in the State. But these telluric compounds of gold,
though rich in this precious metal, are of rare occurrence, and possess
no general interest. It has been a matter of doubt with some, whether
the gold present in auriferous pyrites, mispickel, etc., existed in the
metallic state or mineralized in combination with sidphur. The pre-
valent opinion among the best chemists being that in these ores the
gold is always in the metallic stat^, though its mechanical subdivision
is in this case almost chemically minute — it will here be assumed
that such is the fact. The metallurgy of gold is thus entirely con-
fined to the separation or extraction chiefly, though not entirely, by
mechanical means, of the native metal from the earthy del)ris or the
rocky gangue, which may accompany or contain it.
In the consideration of native gold, our attention is first drawn to
the fact that it occurs extensively in two distinct and well characterized
conditions. It is found either in the solid rock, usually in veins, whose
gangue is almost universally quartz, accompanied by various metallic
oxides and sulphurets ; or else it is found in alluvial deposits, in the
form of minute scales, pellets, coarser grains, or lai^er pieces, always
more or less water worn, and mixed with the sand and gravelly deljris
of all sorts of rocks, whose degradation and comminution have been
the slow work of ages preceding the advent of man. To the lattier
class of deposits the general name of placers has been given, and from
these two prominent modes of occurrence have arisen two distinct
modes of mining, viz : placer, and quartz, or vein mining.
PLACER MINING.
The placers themselves may be again subdivided into two prominent
classes, the deep and the shallow ; or, speaking generally, the ancient
and the modem placers. In California^ these deposits, particularly
the shallow placers, are also frequently styled " diggings, " and these
have again been further characterized ac<?ording to their topographical
position, as river, gulch, bar, flat, bench, and hill diggings ; while the
deeper placers have been called hydraidic diggings, tunnel diggings,
etc., according to their situation, and the means adopted for their
exploitation. At first operations were almost entirely confined to the
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532 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNU.
shallow or surface diggings, which owe their origin in great measure
to the denudation and degradation, by mountain streams, of the older
and deeper detrital formations — enormous quantities of the earthy and
lighter materials having been washed away, while the gold has been
left in a concentrated form and in positions readily accessible to the
miner. Many of these shallow diggings, exceedingly rich when first
discovered, having long since become either exhausted or greatly
impoverished, are now almost wholly abandoned to the Chinese.
The methods and implements employed in placer mining, and by
means of which such immense quantities of the precious metal were
once extracted, seem insignificant compared with those now in use.
In all placer mining the gold is obtained by washing the auriferous
gravel, the sand and earthy matter being carried off by a current of
water, while the gold, owing to its vastly greater specific gravity,
remains behind, and can then be collected by itself in the metallic
state or amalgamated by means of mercury.
THE SHALLOW PLACERS.
The principal implements employed in shallow placer mining are
the pick and shovel, horn spoon, pan, cradle or rocker, long tom, and
the sluice. The horn spoon is made by a lateral section cut from the
horn of an ox, which, being scraped thin, forms a sort of curved spoon,
from one to two inches in depth, two to three inches in breadth, and
six to ten inches long. This spoon is used exclusively for ** prospect-
ing purposes" — that is, for testing the richness of auriferous gravel or
pulverized rock, by washing in it small quantities at a time. In its
use some skill is required, especially when, as is often the case, the
gold dust is very fine, to save and exhibit as nearly as possible the
whole of the precious metal present. This spoon holds at most
but two or three pounds of earth, and it might seem that tests so
rudely made could be of little value. It is found, however, to answer
this purpose better than might be expected ; and it is surprizing how
closely an experienced prospector will estimate the probable yield of
rock or gravel, after having made a suflScient number of trials with it
to enable him to approximate an average of the mass.
The pan in present use is usually stamped from thin sheet iron,
possessing the advantages of lightness and strength, while at the same
time it is not attacked by the mercury often used. In shape and size,
this implement resembles an ordinary circular dairy pan, with a twelve
or fourteen inch bottom, the chief difference consisting in its having a
more flaring form. In using this pan, it is first filled with the aurifer-
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MINING AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSES. 533
ous earth, which is then taken to a stream, puddle, or tub of water
near at hand, for washing. Being submerged, if the material be clayey
in texture, it is worked over with the hands till it becomes disinteg-
rated, and then the washing commences. One side of the pan being
held a little higher than the other, by a peculiar circular motion of
the hands a revolving current is produced within it, which carries
away the lighter portions over its top, while the heavier matters
remain behind. In this way the earthy particles are gradually washed
away, the pebbles being removed by the hand, xmtil nothing is left
but the gold, either entirely clean, or mixed with a small quantity of
heavy sand. The residue thus obtained is either saved until more has
been accumulated, l&nd then, if necessary, carefully washed as clean as
possible, or it is amalgamated with a little mercury. With the pan, as
well as the horn spoon, it requires practice and skill to wash rapidly
and well. In the earlier days of mining the operation of washing for
gold was mostly performed by the pan. It rapidly gave place, how-
ever, to the cradle, the long tom, and the sluice, and is now very rarely
used, except for mere prospecting purposes. It is also indispensable
in the ' ' cleaning up " of sluices, and also about quartz mills, as a
means of washing and saving small portions of amalgam.
The cradle and the long tom, as successors of the pan, were im-
provements on the latter as means for extracting gold — each in its day
being the most efficient implement known for that purpose. Both,
however, were superseded by the sluice, and can now be rarely seen,
except where used occasionally by the Chinese, for which reason a
particular description of them is here omitted.
The sluice, in its various forms, is now the apparatus generally
employed for separating the gold from the worthless matters with
which it is mixed, in both the deep and the shallow placers. In form
and dimensions it varies to suit the work for which it is intended,
being in some cases but a few feet long, while in others, especially in
hydraulic mining, its length reaches several thousand feet. The sluice
is essentially a long, slightly inclined trough, through which a rapid
stream of water flows, the bottom being provided with a suitable
arrangement for catching and retaining the heavier particles, while the
lighter are carried forward and discharged with the water at its lower
end. In its ordinary form as applied to shallow placers, it consists of
a series of wooden troughs open at the ends, each being from ten to
twelve inches deep, from fifteen to twenty inches wide, and twelve feet
long. They are constructed of rough pine boards, from an inch to an
inch and a half thick, and are made three or four inches narrower at
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534 THE NATUKAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
one end, so as to fit into each other, and thus form a contmuous sluice
of any desired length. By this arrangement they can be rapidly put
together, and as readily taken down and removed. The sluice is set to
a uniform grade, so that the fall in each twelve feet, or the length of a
box, is from ten to eighteen inches, according to the character and
quantity of the material to be washed. If the fall in twelve feet be ten
inches the sluice is said to have a ten-inch grade. Across the bottom
of each box is nailed a number of cleats called riffles, intended to catch
and retain the gold and amalgam. As these riffles and the bottom of the
sluice itself would soon be worn out if left unprotected, by the stones
and gravel passing over them, a set of false riffles, consisting of a frame
of slats, is placed longitudinally in each box, preseliting the necessary
cavities for catching and holding the gold, while its surface is such as
to present the least possible resistance to the stones and gravel passing
over it.
The most common style of riffle in sluices for shallow placers, is
formed of strips of plai^k two or three inches thick, from three to six
inches wide, and about five feet six inches long, being nearly half the
length of a single box. These strips are placed on edge, an inch or two
apart, side by side, longitudinally along the bottom of the box, being
properly wedged to keep them in place. There is thus formed a series
of narrow rectangular depressions, having a depth equal to the width
of the strips, and which, though quickly filled with sand when the
sluicing is commenced, still present a sufficient number of cavities and
inequalities to retain the particles of gold, while the pebbles are carried
smoothly forward by the current of water. When, however, as often
happens, the gravel to be washed contains large quantities of stones,
the wear upon the riffles, even with the best arrangement, is severe,
necessitating frequent renewal. To meet this emergency, instead of
the riffles described, the sluice is paved with blocks of wood Cut cross-
wise the grain, and placed with the fibres in a vertical position on its
bottom, narrow spaces being left between the blocks which fill with sand
and serve to retain the gold. These block riffles are not only durable,
but very efficient in s^vpg the amalgam and gold. K the placer gold
dust were always gouww the riffle woidd be a complete and all-sufficient
means of saving it. But, since this is not the case, the grains being of
all sizes, from nuggets several pounds in weight down to an almost impal-
pable powder, so fine that when dry it will readily float upon the surface
of the water; or if suspended in it, be carried along by the gentlest
current ; the use of mercury in the sluice becomes necessary to arrest
and save these minute particles, which even this agent, with its strong
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MINING AND METALLUEGICAL PROCESSES. 535
aflSnity for gold, is not always able to accomplisli, in as much as many
of them, bonie along by the water, do not reach the bottom where the
mercury lies while traversing the length of the longest sluices.
Frequently, also, a portion of the gold is covered by a thin but
closely adherent pellicle of oxide of iron, which prevents it amalgam-
ating readily, although it may come in actual contact with the mercury.
Many contrivances have been resorted to, with more or less success,
to effect an amalgamation of this ** rusty gold," so called, with the
quicksilver, of which the "under current sluice," described in connec-
tion with hydraulic mining, is, perhaps, the most important. Amal-
gamated copper plates are also frequently used near the lower end, or
"tail" of the sluice. But in spite of all efforts to save it, there is still
a heavy loss of the finest gold, a result that can only be wholly pre-
vented by the application of more effective means than any yet devel-
oped in practice, or, perhaps, known to science.
When the sluice is finished and the riffles are in place, the work
of washing commences. A stream of water, graduated by its capacity
and the character of the dirt to be washed, being turned into it, while
the auriferous earth is shoveled in, unless where hydraulic pressure is
employed. For the ordinary sluice, the quantity of water required
varies with the conditions as above stated — ^from twelve to twenty
inches being about the usual amount, which is called a sluice-head.*
As soon as the depressions between the riffles have become fairly filled
with sand and gravel, a quantity of mercury is sprinkled along the
sluice near its head, whence a portion of it gradually finds its way
down through the lower boxes, additional quantities being often scat-
tered at intervals along it
The finer the gold the more mercury is required ; the latter, when
the dust is coarse, not being introduced at the head of the sluice, but
at some distance below, so as to amalgamate only the finer particles of
gold. The coarser the gold, the heavier also may be the grade of the
sluice and the stronger the current of water employed. But the limits
of ten and eighteen inches, already mentioned for the grade, are rarely
passed in either direction. While the washing is going on, the sluice
needs but little attention, except what is required to prevent it from
choking. Where, however, stones of the size of a man's fist, or larger,
*The miner's ** inch of water" is the qnantity discharged through a vertical opening
of one square inch cross section under a mean pressure, or head, which varies in dijfferent
ports of the State from five to nine inches. The inch of water is, therefore, somewhat
indefinite, fluctuating in volume from 80 to 110 cubic feet per hour, the average value
throughout the State not being far from 100 cubic feet per hour.
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636 THE NATUEAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
are numerous, it is customary to throw them out with a fork, after
they have rolled far enough to be thoroughly cleansed of any adhering
mud which might contain gold, instead of letting them run the whole
length of the sluice to no purpose except to wear it oui
The washing once begun, is carried on sometimes without interrup-
tion day and night, more commonly, however, only during the day,
for an indefinite period, which, whether long or short, is called **a run."
These runs may consist of a few days only, or may extend over several
weeks or even months. The operation of collecting the gold, mercury,
and amalgam, which have remained in the bottom of the sluice, is
called ** cleaning up." When it is decided to clean up, no more dirt
is thrown into the sluice. The water, however, is permitted to run
until it passes off clear at the lower end, when it is shut off. The riffles
commencing at the head of the sluice are then taken up for a distance
of thirty or forty feet, when the sandy residue is washed down from
this portion, passing through the sluice, while the gold and mercury are
caught in front of the first remaining riffle, from which they are care-
fully removed with a little scoop and placed in a pan. The riffles are
then put down again, the miner proceeding through the entire series in
the same manner. When all the amalgam is thus collected, it is care-
fully washed clean in the pan, and then strained through buckskin or
canvass, which aMows the liquid mercury to pass, while the solid amal-
gam is retained to be afterwards retorted and melted. The strained
and well squeezed amalgam usually yields from thirty-five to forty per
ceni of its weight of retorted gold. The retorting consists simply in
heating the amalgam to such an extent as to volatilize and expel the
mercury and thus separate it from the gold which remains behind. But
in order to protect the operator from the poisonous mercurial vapors,
as well as to save the mercury and obtain it again in a condition fit for
further use, this operation must be conducted in an air-tight vessel
provided with a condensing chamber. The apparatus commonly em-
ployed for this purpose consists of a cast iron retort, with a cover;
first, well luted, and then screwed down to its place and held fast by
means of a clamp screw. From the center of the cover rises a sipall
iron pipe, which, bending, passes over to the condenser. The latter
generally consists simply of a vessel containing cold water, beneath
the surface of which, however, the pipe is not allowed to dip, its end
being wrapped with one or two thickness of canvass so as to form a
short hose reaching into the water. The reason for this precaution is,
that if the temperature of the retort were suffered to fall low enough to
produce a condensation of the vapors within, the water woidd then rise
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MINING AND METALLUBGICAL PROCESSES. 537
tlirough the pipe, and entering the retort, would there be suddenly
converted into steam, rendering a dangerous explosion imminent. In
tlie performance of this process the retort should be heated very gradu-
ally, tlie temperature not being allowed to rise higher than a dark red
lieat, though this should be maintained long enough to effect a com-
plete removal of the mercury.-^ The gold thus obtained is in a very
porous and spongy condition, requiring to be melted and run into bars
before it is fit for sale and transportation.
MVEB MINING.
By this expression is not meant the working of the bars accumulated
along the mountain streams in times of freshets, and afterwards laid
bare by low stages of water, enabling them to be conveniently worked;
for this, though in one sense a branch of river mining, has nevertheless
its own appropriate name, such deposits being termed *'bar diggings."
The term ** river mining," in the sense here used, comprises a more
extensive class of operations, involving the damming up and the turn-
ing into a new channel, often for considerable distances, of the whole
volume of the waters of a river, thus laying bare its entire bed for
working. Sometimes the new channel is a canal dug in the ground
along the sides of the river ; but oftener, especially where this is
impracticable, a large and costly flume is constructed for the purpose.
These works, as well as all others requiring great outlay, are generally
executed by an association of the miners who do the work themselves,
and furnish each according to his ability the additional capital required,
receiving afterwards a proportionate share of the profits, if such ensue.
When the preliminary work has been completed, and the waters are
turned into their new channel, the bed of the river is staked out into
small and separate claims, which are then worked, each by its owner
according to circumstances, with the cradle, the long tom, or the sluice.
The operations of river mining are necessarily such as often involve
immense expense, while they are always conducted at a heavy risk ;
for, besides the possibilities of a breakage of the dam, and the con-
sequent flooding and destruction of the works, and the certainty that
this will occur unless everything is removed from the bed of the stream
at the commencement of the rainy season, there are the chances that
when the chief expense has been already incurred, and the waters
are turned aside, their channel will not be found rich enough in gold
to repay the cost involved ; and this is a point which can rarely, if ever,
be thoroughly tested until the work of turning the stream has been
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538 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFORNIA.
accomplished. But, though the risks of river mining are always heavy,
and the losses often large, the profits are sometimes enormous — cases
being frequent where the bed of a river is found sufficiently rich in the
precious metal to repay in a short period many times the expense
involved in laying it dry and working it
THE DEEP PLACERS.
It is not easy to draw any well defined line of demarcation between
the deep and shallow placers, though the latter may in a general way be
designated as those not so deep as to require in their exploitation the
application of means and methods which are peculiar to deep placer
mining. The depth thus indicated will vary somewhat with circum-
stances, but may be assumed in general to be in the neighborhood of
twelve or fifteen feet. As already stated, the shallow placers are chiefly
the results of the work of modem streams in the degradation and con-
centration of the deeper detrital formations, though this is not always
the case, some of them owing their origin to widely different causes.
Many of the rich deposits found on the surface or in the cavities of
the limestone, such for example as those once so famous in the vicinity
of Columbia and Sonora, Tuolumne county, were certainly not the
work of modem streams. On the contrary, they are the partial results
of the immense system of denudation so extensive on the western flanks
of the Sierra, and which, though it preceded the modern river system,
was posterior to the accumidation of the great mass of the deep aurif-
erous gravel deposit. The rich diggings about Columbia were evidently
formed by the enormous mass of materials having been swept away,
while the bottom alone was left in situ, or nearly so, with its golden
wealth still further enriched by concentration from the hundreds of
feet in depth of auriferous gravel which have disappeared. But while
the shallow placers are thus seen to vary more or less in their age and
origin, the deeper are exclusively the work of more ancient causes,
residting, as stated in the geological portion of this work, to a great
extent, from the action of an older and entirely different river system
from that which now exists. They are often hundreds of feet in depth,
and are frequently capped with enormous masses of basaltic lava or
other volcanic materials which have been distributed over them. In
these, as in all other auriferous placers, the gold is generally found to
be most concentrated nearest the bottom of the deposit — or, in other
words, the gravel is richest nearest the bed rock. The latter, as its
name implies, is the foundation, or bed of solid rock, of whatever kind,
upon which auriferous placers usually rest, and which, besides this.
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MINING AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSES. 539
in the case of the deep placers, has often been the bed of an ancient
stream or riyer. To reach and work the material lying nearest the bed
rock, is, therefore, the chief object in all deep placer mining. This is
accomplished in diflFerent ways, according to the nature of the ground,
and the depth and situation of the deposit. Sometimes vertical shafts
are sunk through the gravel to the bed rock, and from the bottoms of
these, tunnels are driven in various directions, being continued till the
pay dirt is reached. These tunnels are supported overhead by timber-
ing, if necessary. The po.y dirt thus obtained is hoisted through the
shaft to the surface, and then washed in the sluices, or, if it be very
rich and water is scarce, with the cradle or pan. This is apt to be an
expensive mode of mining, the labor of hoisting the earth through the
shaft being considerable, while the pumping, usually required to free
the works from water, is even more costly. It is, therefore, never
resorted to except in situations which permit of no other means of
reaching the bed rock, and where the deposit is known or justly sup-
posed to be rich. Prospecting shafts, however, are often sunk for the
purpose of examining the ground, and ascertaining, so far as practi-
cable, its probable richness before more expensive works are entered
upon. The two principal methods by which the deep placers are
worked, are tunnel and hydraulic mining, both conducted upon an
extensive scale.
TUNNEL MINING.
This style of mining is resorted to where the auriferous gravel is deep,
and overlaid by a mass of basaltic rock or volcanic scoria, tufa, and
other material, to such a depth as to render it impossible to remove
the superincumbent mass, the adjacent valleys being at the same time
low enough to permit the bed of the ancient channel to be reached by
tunnels driven in from their sides. Tunnels have been extensively
employed to reach the deposits under the basaltic Table Mountains of
Tuolumne, Sierra, and other counties, which cover the auriferous
gravel to the depth of a thousand feet or more. ^. By this system the
bed of the ancient river is reached by long tunnels driven from the
adjoining valleys through what is termed the rim rock, being that
which forms the borders of the ancient channel, and which rises some-
times to the height of one himdred and fifiy feet or more above the
middle of the channel. The tunnel is intended to strike beneath the
ancient river bed, or at least sufficiently low to be upon a level with it,
and is driven with just sufficient inclination to drain the works as they
proceed. The channel being reached, drifts are run along it, the
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540 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNLL
gronnd divided up, and the auriferous gravel, commonly termed cement^
from its being firmly compacted together, is removed and conveyed in
cars to the mouth of the tunneL Here it is broken up, the disinteg-
ration being assisted by jets of water thrown from a hose upon it, after
which it is washed in sluices. Extensive timbering is often required to
support the roof as the work of excavation proceeds, pillars of pay dirt
sometimes being left for this purpose. The thickness of the stratum of
pay dirt varies from a few inches to six or seven feei The length of
these tunnels ranges from six hundred to fourteen hundred feet, and
instead of being started below the level of the channel, and driven
through the bed-rock with such an inclination as to drain the mine% they
are sometimes started at the top of the rim rock, or even above it, and
driven with a downward inclination into the hill. In such instances the
water must be removed by pumping, and the dirt be hoisted or drawn
out by machinery — some of these tunnels furnishing sufficient water to
wash the gravel taken out. OccasionaUy the latter is so firmly cemented
together as to defy the ordinary means of disintegration and washing
in a sluice, in which event it is crushed in a mill and worked like
auriferous quartz. But as this proceeding involves the crushing of the
pebbles and boulders, generally barren of gold, various contrivances
have been employed to disintegrate the cement without involving this
result — the most efficient machine yet devised for this purpose being
Cox's Cement Mill, which consists of an iron pan six feet in diameter
and eighteen inches deep, supplied with four iron rakes or stirrers
bolted to arms attached to a vertical central shaft This shaft, making
fifty revolutions, in a minute, drives these stirrers with great velocity,
separating the cement effectually from the boulders and breaking it up
so finely that it passes readily through the longitudinal openings left
in the cast iron bottom of the pan. Into the latter a stream of water is
kept constantly discharging to aid in softening and washing the cement
after it has been brought to the proper consistence for the action of the
stirrers. The boulders and larger gravel, after being freed from the
cement, are discharged through a trap door in the bottom of the pan —
opened and closed by levers. A charge for this pan consists of about
one ton of cement, it being able to work thirty-five tons of ordinary
material in twelve hours, and forty-five if it is but moderately tenacious
or hard. The arrangements for economizing labor are such that one
man can attend it — the cost of this washing operation not being over
twelve or fifteen cents per ton. With the aid of this pan the earnings
of the cement mills using it have been largely increased; and it is
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MININa AND METALLUBGICAL PROCESSES. 541
believed that large quantities of gravel can now be crushed with profit,
that before would not pay for handling.
V
HYDRAULIC MINING.
Before proceeding to a description of the practical operations of
this mode of mining, it may be well to give some account of the char-
acter of the deposits upon which it is applied.*
It is shown by numerous well established fieicts, that at the close of
the geological epoch just prior to the appearance of man upon the
globe, the whole of the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains
were, below a certain horizon, covered by a vast spread of alluvium,
owing its origin to the action of extensive glaciers, which have left the
evidence of their former presence everywhere in the higher Sierras.
These glaciers furnished the transporting power that brought from
above the fragments, which, by long continued action of running water,
were worn into the smoothly rounded boidders, gravel and sands form-
ing the gold-bearing alluvia. The melting of the glaciers as their lower
skirts reached warmer zones, furnished the water for those ancient
rivers, the beds of which are now found far above the level of the
present river system, and whose courses are generally crossed by the
valleys of our modem streams. This condition of things continued
long enough to permit the accumidation of beds of gravel — the gold-
bearing alluvium — ^to a depth and extent without a parallel elsewhere
in North America, and as auriferous deposits unequalled elsewhere in
the world. Of the thickness of this accumulated matter, there is evi-
dence in numerous places where it has been protected from the action
of subsequent denudation by a capping of volcanic material, it reach-
ing here a known thickness of five hundred feet. Usually, however,
it has been denuded to one half of this thickness, often more, while in
many places it has been completely swept away. Subsequent to the
glacial and alluvial epoch to which the gold-bearing gravels are referred,
there was a period of intense volcanic activity, the evidence of which
is seen nfbst conspicuously in the Table mountains, so called, where
the auriferous deposits are covered by cappings of basalt, forming
highly characteristic ranges. In other parts of the State, and espe-
cially in Nevada and Sierra counties, the volcanic outpourings consisted
of ashes and other materials, since consolidated into heavy beds of
volcanic mud, mixed with fragments of scoria, tufa, and basalt.
* In this, as weU as in the description of hydranlio mining which follows, the notes of
Prof. B. Silliman have been freely used.
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542 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALXFOBXIA.
Following the outpouring of the volcanic rocks, there was evidently
an epoch of very active denudation by running water, which has broken
up and removed the volcanic cappings, leaving them only here and
there as landmarks showing the ancient levels, and sweeping away, like-
wise, vast areas of the old alluvium, and redistributing it as secondary
or shallow placers at lower levels. This denudation was probably con-
sequent on the sudden disappearance of the system of glaciers, which
up to that time crowned the entire range of the Sierras with ice. So
complete was the removal of the ancient gravel in some of the southern
counties that the gold left behind lay upon the naked rock, covered
only by a few inches of vegetable mould.
Before proceeding further it may be expedient to explain certain
terms and phrases used in this species of mining, which are not gener-
ally understood out of California.
"Blue Gravel" is a term employed by hydraulic miners to distin-
guish in a general way between the upper and poorer and the lower and
richer portions of the auriferous beds of gravel, which latter are usu-
ally, though not always, characterized by a peculiarly bluish color.
This color is due to the reducing power of organic matter, chiefly vege-
table fiber, acting upon the salts of iron present, which, mainly in the
form of sulphurets of iron, have become the principal cementing ma-
terial uniting the gravel and sand into a compact and firm conglomerate,
so strong as to require the use of gunpowder to prepare it for washing.
When exposed to the influence of air and moisture, this blue color dis-
appears and the mass becomes yellowish and reddish, being often bril-
liantly colored with various tints of purple and red. It loses at the
same time a great part of its fiimmess and often crumbles to powder,
even the pebbles of a certain kind found in it slacking to a sandy consis-
tence. The blue color has no necessary connection with the presence
of gold — gravel being thus colored simply because it has been beyond
the reach of oxidizing influences.
**The Great Blue Lead" is a term applied to such deposits of
cement and gravel as are found to rest in a well defined channel,
assumed, not without reason, to have been the bed of an ancient
river. That there were many such rivers is clearly proved by what is
already known of the topography of this portion of the gold regions.
There are obvious reasons why, as a rule, the beds of such streams
should be richer than the general surface beyond their banks. These
channels when first uncovered are always found well worn by running
water, and filled with cavities and "pot holes," where the currents
eddied. They vary in width from sixty to four hundred feet, being
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MINING AND METALLUBGICAL PBOCESSES. 543
occsBionally much wider, and are sometimes traceable for miles,
marking the flow of the ancient river, the course of which is also often
indicated by the direction of the deeper grooves, being generally north-
northwest and south-southeasi
The term "White Cement" is given by the miners in certain locali-
ties to a zone or stratum of whitish color, but of no considerable
thickness, which appears to chronicle a pause or interval in the accu-
mulation of the coarser graveL The gravel above this plane contains
less gold than that below, though^ owing to its looser texture, it is more
rapidly washed away.
With the more or less complete exhaustion of the shallow placers in
the ravines and river beds, came the necessity of devising a system by
which the deep placers, like these under consideration, could be econo-
mically worked. The accomplishment of this object demanded the
use of a large amount of capital, to be expended in the construction
of canals and aqueducts to convey water from the mountain lakes and
streams at a suitable elevation, and in sufficient quantity to command
the groimd to bo worked, as well as for the purpose of opening tunnels
and shafts in the bed rock for the discharge of the gravels — operations
requiring much labor and skill, and often consuming several years for
their accomplishment.
The amount of labor and capital thus demanded called into exist-
ence, in various parts of the State, canal and ditch companies, the
associates being generally miners, whose limited finances were eked
out by borrowing money from bankers at rates of interest varying
from three to five per ceni monthly.
Experience has demonstrated that the larger the volume of water
employed in the process of hydraulic mining, the greater the efficiency
and economy of the operation. The proper application of the power-
ful mechanical force furnished by large volumes of water under a great
pressure, was a problem solved satisfactorily only after many abortive
trials and much experience. This problem involves the following
conditions :
1st. The whole mass of auriferous gravel must be removed, what-
ever its depth, quite down to the **bed rock."
2d. This must be accomplished by the action of water alone, human
labor being confined to the application of the water and the prelimi-
nary preparations it involves, the amount of material to be moved and
disposed of in every day of ten hours, being from two thousand to
three thousand cubic yards for each first class operation, involving the
use of four htmdred to six hundred inches of water.
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644 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
3d. The mechanical disintegration of the compact conglomerate as
a part of the uninterrupted operation of the whole system.
4th. The simultaneous saving of gold without interrupting the con-
tinued flow of water.
5th. The disposal of the accumulations resulting from the removal
of such vast quantities of gravel.
These conditions are in practice met by the following steps : The
mining ground being selected, a timnel is projected from the. most
convenient ravine, so that starting in the bed-rock, on the face of the
ravine, it shall approach the center of the mass to be moved with a
grade of from one in twelve to one in thirty-six. The dimensions of
these tunnels are usually six to eight feet in width by seven feet in
height, the length varying from a few hundred feet to a mile. For
driving some of the longer of these works from five to seven years have
been required, at a cost of from ten to sixty dollars per lineal foot,
varying with the cost of labor and the character of the rock to be exca-
vated. The end of the tunnel is designed to be from fifty to one hun-
dred feet, or perhaps more, beneath the bottom of the gravel, at a point
where a shaft or incline is sunk through the gravel and bed-rock to
intersect it It obviously demands careful engineering to carry out
works of such magnitude with the accuracy required, and for the want
of sufficient care or skill in this particular, years of costly labor and
anxious expectation were sometimes spent in the earlier history of
these enterprises. The tunnel once constructed becomes not only an
avenue for reaching the auriferous deposits, but also a sluice-way,
through the whole length of which sluice boxes are laid, both to direct
the stream and save the gold. This sluice is two and a half feet wide,
with sides high enough to control the stream. The pavement laid
down within it is usually composed of blocks of wood cut across the
grain six inches in thickness, and extending from side to side. These
wooden blocks are frequently made to alternate with sections of cobble
stone pavement In the interstices mercury is distributed, two tons or
more of this metal being required to charge a long sluice. Bevond
the mouth of the tunnel the sluice boxes are still continued, often for
many hundred feet, in a zigzag course, down the sides of the ravine.
After leaving the sluice boxes the slum is often run into what are
termed long tail sluices, through which it flows, still depositing a little
gold for thousands of feet, when it is finally discharged to find its way
to the plains below, rendering thick and turbid all the s1a*eams into
which it flows ; these accumulated tailings discoloring even the waters
of San Francisco bay. At each change of direction of the zigzag sluice,
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UMIKG AND METALLUBGICAL FB0GESSE8. 546
and Bometimes at otlier points, the ''under current sluice" is usuallj
introduced, being constructed and arranged as follows : At the end of
the last sluice box above the under current, a grating of iron bars is
placed lengthwise in the bottom of the box, through which a portion of
the water and finer jnaterial falls, upon a series of more gently graded
sluices below, from two to five times the width of the main sluice.
These sluices are placed at right angles to the other, and are often
lined with amalgamated copper plates, and provided with mercurial
riffles, which, in connection with the gentler current^ materially assist
in saving the finer gold. The great body of the gravel with the large
boulders meantime go dashing forward, being precipitated in places
over falls from twenty to fifty feet in height, thus producing by the
crushing and grinding effect a great disintegrating power. From the
bottom of this fall the materials are immediately taken up by a series
of boxes, and being again joined by the stream from the under cur-
rent, flow on, the process being repeated, often many times, before the
bottom of the ravine is reached.
The water from the canal is brought by side flumes to the head of
the mining groxmd with an elevation of from one to two hxmdred feet
above the bed-rock, whence it is conveyed to the bottom in iron pipes,
sometimes sustained by a strong incline of timber. These pipes are
of sheet iron of adequate strength, riveted at the joints and measure
from twelve to twenty inches in diameter. They communicate at the
bottom with a strong prismatic box of cast iron, in the top and sides
of which are openings for the adaptation of flexible pipes made of a
very strong fabric of canvas, strengthened by cording, and terminating
in metallic nozzles of from two and a half to three inches in diameter.
From these nozzles the streams are directed against the face of the
gravel to be washed, with immense force.
The volume of water employed varies with the work to be done;
though frequently four different streams, each conveying a hundred
inches or more of water, are brought to bear simultaneously on the
face of the same bank. Five hundred miners* inches of water, approx-
imately equal to 53,000 cubic feet per hour, are often discharged against
the face of the bank, with the great velocity and pressure due to the
head employed.
Under the continuous action of this enormous mechanical force,
aided by the softening power of the water, large sections of the gravelly
mass are readily broken down and washed away. The d^ris speedily
dissolving and disappearing xmder the force of the torrent, is hurried
forward in the sluices to the mouth of the shafts down which it is pre-
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646 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
cipitated with the whole volame of water. Botilders weighing hun-
dreds of pounds, accompanied hj masses of the harder cement, are car-
ried forward, encountering everywhere on their passage, and especially
in the plunge over the fall, the crushing agencies necessary for their
disintegration. ^
The heavier banks, of eighiy feet and upwards, are usually worked
in two benches; the upper and poorer, being also less firm, is worked
away with greater rapidity. The lower section is usually much more
compact — the stratum on the bed-rock being strongly cemented by
sulphuret of iron and resisting even the full force of the water until it
has been loosened by powder. For this purpose a tunnel is driven in
on the bed-rock, from forty to seventy feet from the face of the bank,
from the inner extremity of which another is extended to some dis-
tance on each side and at right angles to the first. In this cross tunnel
is placed the chaise, consisting of from one hundred to five hundred
kegs of powder, fired as a single blast. The effect in shattering and
loosening, in all directions, the heavy mass of conglomerate, is tremen-
dous— ^fitting it for the re€^y and efficient action of the water.
Sometimes in the softer, upper stratum, a sytem of cross tunnels is
extended, as practiced, in coal mining, leaving blocks, which are then
washed away; after which the whole mass settles and disintegrates
easily under the influence of the water, A double set of sluices is
usually placed in these long tunnels^ in order that one set may be
cleaned up while the other is in action.
The process of cleaning up is performed at intervals of from twenty
to forty days, according to the size of the works and the richness of
the earth. Advantage is taken of this occasion to reverse the position
of the blocks and stones when they are worn irregularly, and to sub-
stitute new ones for those which are worn oui The action of the
washing upon the blocks is rapid and severe, demanding a complete
renewal of them once in eight or ten weeks. Some miners prefer a
pavement consisting entirely of cobble stones, though most of the
sluices are paved with wooden blocks, with or without alternating sec-
tions of stones.
Bud^ as this method of saving the gold by hydraulic washing may
appear, experience has shown that more is saved by it than by any
other mode yet devised, while its economical advantages are incom-
parably greater than those of any other. In fact it would be utterly
impossible to handle such masses of poor material with profit in any
other manner, or by any other agency than that of water.
To show the advantages possessed by this system as compared with
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lONINa AND METALLUBOICAL PBOGESSES. 547
{hose formerly in use, assuming wages to be three dollars per day, the
cost of handling a cubic yard of auriferous gravel is approximately as
follows : with the pan, $15 ; with the rocker, $3 75 ; with the long torn,
$1 ; with the hydraulic process, 15 cts.
By no other means does man more completely change the face of
nature than by this process of hydraidic mining. Hills melt away
and disappear under its influence, every winter's freshets carrying to
lower and yet lower points portions of the detritus, while whole valleys
are filled with clean washed boulders of quartz and other rocks. Mean-
while the Sacramento and its branches, as well as the San Joaquin^
flow turbid with mud. Bars are formed where none existed before,
and the hydrography of the bay of San Francisco is changing under
the influence of the same causes. The desolation which remains after
the ground, thus washed, is abandoned, is remediless and appalling.
The rounded surface of the bed rock, torn with picks and strewn with
immense boulders too large to be removed, shows here and there islands
of the poorer gravel rising in vertical clifEs with red and blue stains,
serving to mark the former levels^ and filling the mind with astonish-
ment at the changes, geologic in their nature and extent, which the
hand of man has wrought
QUABTZ, OB VJJiiN MINING.
Before proceeding to treat particularly of the means and methods
employed in the mining and subsequent treatment of auriferous quartss,
something may be said, in a general way, as to the modes of occur^
rence of gold in the rocks, and of the more prominent features and
characteristics of auriferous veins, or *' ledges," as they are usually
styled by the California miner.
It has been stated in the early part of this chapter, that when gold
occurs in sUu in the rocks, it is usually found/ in veins of quartz. It
has also been stated, in the chapter devoted to geology, that the great
gold-bearing region of the State, viz: the western flanks of the Sierra
Nevada^ is of comparatively recent geological age; that it consists
almost entirely of slates, varying largely in lithological character, but
having a remarkable uniformity of strike and dip, the former being;
with few exceptions, approximately parallel to the central axis of the
Sierras, while the latter inclines generally at a high angle to the east,
or towards this central axis.
The iimumerable veins of quartz with which this region is filled,
do not, in general, form a network cutting each other and the strata in
various directions, and dipping at all imaginable angles, as is com^
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648 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFORNIA.
monly ihe case in otlier regions, more particularly in many of the min-
eral districts of Europe. On the contrary, the veins here lie parallel
with the stratification of the slates, being enclosed between the beds,
with which they conform both in strike and dip. There are, however,
exceptions to this general rule, a vein occasionally cutting the strata
with a strike and dip, entirely independent of them — ^these cases^ in
some localities, being rather frequent
The gangue of the auriferous veins is almost always quartz. Near
the surface, the associate minerals are chiefly the oxidized ores of iron,
copper, lead and zinc; the sulphurets of these metals, at depths beyond
the reach of atmospheric influences, being of general occurrence : the
latter are sometimes accompanied by arseniurets of iron, etc., and
occasionally by rarer combinations, such as the tellurides of Carson Hill
and other localities. Sometimes the gold in the veins is distributed
with remarkable uniformity throughout the whole mass of the gangue,
while in other and more numerous cases the reverse is true. In some
instances, portions of the foot-wall prove the richest, while in others^
{hat next the hanging wall is the more highly auriferous.
Often the veins are more or less banded in structure, in which case
{he gold is apt to lie in streaks parallel with the banding of the quartz.
Occasionally it lies mainly in ^'chimneys,*' or "chutes," having a pitch
in the direction of the strike of the vein; and not infrequently there is
the greatest possible irregularity in its distribution, some portions of
{he vein matter being extremely rich, while others immediately adjacent
are almost entirely barren* In some spots the gold is coarse, while in
others it is impalpably fine — ^much of the rock that pays well to work
showing no gold whatever to the naked eye. Sometimes the vein-stuff
adheres strongly to the walls of the adjoining coimtry rock; so that the
former cannot be removed without breaking off much of the latter,
while, again, the cleavage or parting between the two is perfect and
clean. Frequently the vein and the country rock are separated by a
selvage or clay band an inch or two in thickness ; a condition that
greatly facilitates the removal of the former. Often the walls, as well
as the surface of the vein, are marked with parallel strise, showing the
direction of dynamic action, the surface often being not only worn
smooth, but even beautifully polished by this movement The gold
occurs distributed more or less throughout not only the hardest and
most compact quarts but also in the more soft and cellular portions
thereof, it being also present to a greater or less extent in the various
metallic sulphurets scattered through the veins, particularly in iron
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KnONO AND XETALLUBGIOAL PBOCBSSES. 649
and arsenical pyrites where the latter ooonrsi both of these minerals
being often extremely rich.
The gold is not, howeyer, entirely confined to the limits of the
metaliferons yein ; frequently existing as well in adjacent portions of
the wall rocks — sometimes to such an extent as to remunerate well the
cost of extracting and working ii Cases have occurred, as at Carson
Hill, where the soft slates adjoining the yeins, for a foot or more in
thickness, were found to be immensely rich, equalling in this respect
even the richest portions of the quartz itself. But, although the quarts
yeins are eyeiywhere the chief matrix of gold, they are not its inyariable
accompaniments. Within the past few years this metal has been found
at certain localities in considerable quantity, distributed throughout
broad bands or patches of the metamorphic slates, unaccompanied
either by quartz in notable quantity, or by any distinct and definite
yein formation. In these cases the rocks are shown to haye been highly
impregnated with metallic sulphurets of yarious kinds, the most promi-
nent of which, howeyer, was iron pyrites. The slow decomposition
and oxidation of these sulphurets, as the result chiefly of atmospheric
causes, haye in many places entirely changed the chemical character
and consistence of the rocks, replacing many of their original constitu-
ents by others of a yery different kind. By this process, too, the whole
mass of rock has sometimes been so softened as to set free the particles
of gold once contained in the sulphurets, leaying the rocks often
stained with a yariety of brilliant colors, due to the metallic oxides and
salts resulting from their decomposition.
But this subject of the modes of occurrence of gold in Miu in the
rocks, and other questions connected therewith, although exceedingly
interesting, form too broad a field to permit of further consideration
here ; therefore, we proceed to notice briefly the principal means and
methods employed in the mining and subsequent treatment of the oie.
MININO OPERATIONa
As the extraction of auriferous quartz does not yaiy materially from
other yein mining as practiced in different parts of the world, it hardly
requires a special description in this place. When the yein is so situ-
ated that it can be reached, at a considerable depth below its outcrop^
by means of a tunnel extending nearly horizontally from the hill-side
or from an adjoining yalley, such a tunnel or adit is first driyen, drifts
being afterwards extended from it in each direction along the yein:
The auriferous quartz aboye is then stoped out; and oonyeyed in cars
through the tunnel to its mouth, and thence to the milL
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550 THE NATURAL T7EALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
Where, hdweyer, the character of the ground does not admit of this
mode of exploitation, or where it becomes desirable to reach deeper
levels than can be attained by such a tmmel, shafts are sunk ; either
-verticallj, to intersect the vein at a given depth, or in an inclined
direction from the outcrop with the dip of the vein. Drifts or levels
are then extended at proper depths in each direction from the shafts
dividing the ground into a series of verticeJ " lifts" as they are called,
the heights of which between the drifts varies from thirty or forty to
one hundred feei The ore in each "lift" is then stoped out, and fall-
ing into the drift below, is conveyed to the shaft, through which it is
hoisted, usually by steam power, to the surface. The machinery and
gearing used for hoisting, pumping, and handling the ore and waste
rock, are pretfy much the same in kind the world over. For raising
water, the Cornish pump is, perhaps, more extensively used at present
than any other. In some instances a compact, double-acting, steam
force-pump is employed instead, and being placed at the bottom of the
mine, is fed with steam brought down in a pipe from the boilers above;
and which, having done its work, is discharged into an exhaust-pipe, and
re-conducted to the suiface. The ore is not^ as a general thing, sub-
jected to any further breaking than that incidental to its extraction
until it reaches the floor of the mill. It usually, however, undergoes
a kind of rough sorting whereby such portions as are known to be
worthless are rejected ; and where the veins vary greatly in richness,
considerable portions of ore, obviously of a very low grade, are often
left standing in the mine. Upon reaching the floor of the mill, the
ore is broken to a size suitable for the stamps, either by hand, or,
more generally of late, by being passed between the jaws of powerful
finishers^ moved by steam.
MILLING MAOHINERT AND PBOCESSES.
A modem quartz mill for the working of auriferous ores, consists
of the stamps, with their necessary accompaniments for crushing and
pulverizing the ore, together with the additional arrangements, of what-
ever kind, below the stamps for catching and saving tibc gold thus set
free from the gangue.
The stamp is a long, vertical iron stem, moving in guides, and fur-
nished at th^ bottom with a heavy iron head. It is lifted vertically by
machinery, and in falling, crushes by its weight and tibe momentum it
acquires, the rock placed in an iron trough, beneath.
The California stamp, in its most recent and approved form, con-
sists of four distinct parts^ viz : the stem, the head, the shoe^ and the
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kdhno and metallubgioal pbocesses. ^51
-tappet The stem is a smooth wronght-iron cjlmder, from two and
A half to three inches in diameter, and generally twelve feet long.
The ends are tamed with a slight coniceJ taper for a few inches, in
order that they may easily and strongly wedge themselves into the
^corresponding socket in the head, either end being fitted to connect
with the latter.
The stamp-head is a cylinder of cast iron, usually eight inches in
diameter, and from twelve to eighteen inches in length. Each end is
supplied with a socket, or hole ; the one to receive the stem, and the
other and larger, the neck of the shoe. Each end of the stamp-head is
strengthened by a thick band of wrought iron^ driven on while hot,
and shrank to its place.
The shoe is a shorter cylinder of cast iron, generally of the same
diameter as the stamp-head, and from four to six inches thick, being
so formed that it can be easily attached to or detached from the latter ;
its removal being necessary when too much worn for further service.
Tlie stamp is lifted by a cam, usually double armed, though some-
times single, fixed upon a revolving horizontal shaft, and working close
by the side of the stem, against the flat under surface of the tappet.
It is curved in such a way that the horizontal surface of the bottom
of the tappet, at the point of contact between the two, is eJways tan-
gent to- the face of the cam at any instant during the rise of the stamp.
The stem is kept in proper position by two guides, six or seven feet
apart, the one above the other, between which are the cam, shaft, and
the tappets. A result of this form and arrangement of the stamp is,
tliat tlie cam, in lifting it, also imparts to it a rotary motion, which,
continuing while the stamp is falling, increases somewhat by its grind-
ing tendency the crushing effect of the blow. But the great advantage
of this rotary motion is, that the constant change of position produces
a uniform wear of the shoes and dies, which it would be difficult to
secure by any other means.
The weight of the stamp complete varies from five hundred to nine
hundred pounds, and the height of fall from eight inches to a foot.
The speed at which they are driven is generally about sixty blows
each per minute. Each stamp can crush £rom one to three tons of
rock in twenty-four hours, according to tibe fineness of the crushing
and the character of the rock. ^
The number of stamps in a mill varies of course with the amount
of work to be done, ranging aU the way from three or four to sixty or .
more, the average number being about fifteen or twenty. The stamps
are arranged in what are called "batteries," each battery consisting
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^2 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBMIA.
of four or five stamps, working together in a separate cast-iron box, or
mortar, though two or three batteries are nsuallj driven bj the same
cam-shafi
The mortar is a heayj rectangular cast-iron box in which the stamps
play and the ore is crushed. Its weight varies according to the num-
ber and size of the stamps, four or five stamps of ordinary size requir-
ing one weighing from two thousand to three thousand five hundred
pounds. Its interior dimensions, at the bottom, are such as to have
but an inch or two of clear space between the stamp-heads and its sides,
which are from three to five feet high. There is a longitudinal opening,
three or four inches wide, in the back side, protected by a yertical
apron, and running the whole length of the mortar, through which
the broken ore is fed. In the bottom of the mortar, on the inside, are
cast cavities for the reception of the dies upon which the stamps falL
The dies are also of cast iron, one for each stamp. The lower part of
the die, which fits into the cavity in the mortar, may be cylindrical or
rectangular. The upper portion is cylindrical, projecting from three
to five inches above the bottom of the mortar, and has generally the
same diameter as the shoe. In the front side of the mortar, with its
lower lip at a proper height, from two to four inches above the tops of
the dies, is the discharge opening, from a foot to twenty inches in
vertical width, and running the whole length of the mortar. The
latter rests upon blocks, the best form of which, in ordinary ground,
consists of sticks of heavy timber, from ten to fourteen feet in length,
and from two feet to thirty inches square, according to the size of the
mortar and the weight of the stamps. These blocks are set in couples
Tcrtically imbedded in the ground, to a depth of from five to eight feet,
two of them being used to support a single mortar. Their tops are
brought as nearly to the same level as possible in setting them, and
are then planed true and leveL And, as it is important that the con-
tact between the mortar and the blocks should be close and uniform,
the bottom of the former is also planed true before it leaves the shop.
The mortar is then placed upon the blocks and strongly bolted to them.
In the discharge opening already noticed, is fitted the screen-frame, a
rectangular frame of wood, to which is fastened the screen. The latter
<K)nsists of a strip of sheet iron, perforated with small holes, through
which the discharge from the batteries takes place. Sometimes wire
oloth is used for this purpose, but the punched sheet iron screens are
generally preferred. The size of the holes varies considerably with
the fineness of the crushing required. The punched screen most in
use, known as No. 6, has holes about .027 inch in diameter, and pre-
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lONINO AKD METALLXTBGIOAL PBOCESSES. 663
sentfl about 196 holes to the square inch of surface. A constant stream
of water is introduced into the battery, which, with the violent agita-
tion produced by the motion of tibe stamps, carries the pulverized ore
through the screens out of the battery as fast as it reaches the requisite
fineness. The broken ore is usually fed to the batteries by hand, one
man being able to tend or feed three or four batteries. It might prove
economical to provide the batteries with a self-feeding arrangement —
an improvement rarely attempted yet in California^ though practiced
in Australia and Europe.
The arrangements for extracting and saving the gold from the
crushed ore, though varying largely hi their details, have certain fea-
tures always in common; chief among which is the amalgamation of the
gold by means of mercury. The crushed ore and water, or the ''pulp,'*
as it is called, is led from the batteries through shallow, descending
sluices, passing in its way whatever contrivances may be there adopted
for saving the gold, being finally discharged as ''tailings" from the
lower side of the milL These sluices are from eight to sixteen inches
in width, and two or three inches deep, and have an inclination or
grade dependent on the degree of fineness of the crushing, the quantity
of pulp they are intended to convey, the means employed for saving
the gold, etc. There are in general use two prominent modes of amal-
gamation— ^the Grass Valley ^rstem, so called £rom its general use in
the mills of Grass Valley, and the system of amalgamation in battery.
THE GRASS VALLEY SYSTEM OF AMALGAMATION.
By this plan no mercury is placed in the batteries, the only portion
of gold caught there being such as is too coarse to pass the holes of
the screen. Of this coarse gold there is, however, always a notable
proportion in the Grass Valley ores. In the practice of this method
the bottoms of the sluices are covered with coarse woolen blankets,
woven for the purpose, over which the pulp flows. These blankets are
spread smoothly, and made to overlap each other in such a way as to
prevent the pulp £rom getting beneath them. As the latter flows over
them, the heavier particles, which always keep nearest the bottom of
the shallow stream, are caught in the meshes of the coarse fabric and
there retained, while the lighter portions pass on with the current
But^ as the nap of the blankets soon become filled with sand, which, if
unremoved, would soon impair, and, if long continued, destroy their
efficiency, it is necessary to frequently remove and wash them, after
which they are replaced. For this reason the slidces leading from the
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554 !rHE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA.
batteries are either made double, or three are used for two batteries;
so that the pulp from either may be turned into the middle sluice,
while the blankets of its own sluice are being washed — an operation
that requires to be performed about once eyerj fifteen or twenty
minutes. For the purpose of washing, the blankets are placed in a
large tub or vat filled with water, where they are thoroughly rinsed,
the auriferous sand falling to the bottom. When the blankets have
been washed and replaced, the pulp is again turned on, and those of
another sluice are subjected to the same operation. The sluices below
the blankets are frequently lined with amalgamated copper plates, or
provided with mercurial riffles, having also in some cases the pulp con-
veyed over shaking tables, or subjected to other mechanical treatment^
for saving the finer gold before it is finally discharged. All of these
contrivances catch some gold, though most of the latter saved below
the batteries is caught upon the blankets. The blanket washings are
generally rich in gold, and also in metallic sulphurets, when the latter
are present in the ore. They are next subjected to amalgamation in
order to extract the free gold which they contain, and the sulphurets
are afterwards either suffered to escape with the tailings, or are saved
and ground with mercury in iron pans, or treated by Plattner's chlor-
ination process. The amalgamation of the blanket washings is some-
times effected by grinding the whole at once in pans with mercury, but
more frequently by passing them through Attwood's amalgamator.
This machine is used in connection with a short sluice lined with amal-
gamated copper plates, arranged so as to form a series of little troughs
or riffles containing mercury. At the head of this sluice are two or
three horizontal semi-cylindrical troughs, of six or eight inches radius,
placed parallel to each other transversely across the bottom of the
sluice, and partly filled with mercury. The blanket washings are placed
in a box or hopper above, and being slowly washed down, are carried
over these troughs and the copper plates and riffles below, by a small
stream of warm water, a moderate increase of temperature being foimd
to favor the amalgamation. The mercury in these troughs, together
with the sand as it passes over them, is kept in a state of constant and
brisk agitation by a wooden cylinder revolving in a direction opposite
to that of the current, and thickly set with thin blades of iron which
dip into the mercury and nearly reach the bottom of the trough.
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MDHNG AND KETALLUBGIGAL PBOCE88E8. 655
AMALGAMATION IN BATTERY.
Frequently^ when the gold in the ore is fine, and sometimes also
when it is coarse, the plaii of battery amalgamation is preferred. By
this mode mercury is introduced into the battery, a small quantity
being sprinkled in upon the feed side at intervals of from half an hour
to two hours, as may be needed — the quantity of mercury required
in the battery varying with the richness of the ore and the fineness of
the gold ; the average amount being about an ounoe of mercury for
every ounce of gold obtainable £rom the ore. If the gold be very fine,
more is needed — in practice, the quantity being judged of by the
appearance and consistence of the ameJgam formed. The amalgam in
the battery should be too hard to be readily impressible with the
finger, and yet not so dry as to become brittle, which might cause it
to break up and be thrown out in little pellets through the screen. A
small portion of the mercury is thrown out^ which, with the gold it
thatches on its way, forms a little ridge of ameJgam on the copper plate,
generally placed under the lip of the mortar outside the battery. This
amalgam should be of such a consistence that an impression can be
made upon it with the finger, and yet not too easily. If the amalgam
becomes too soft^ no more mercury is added till it regains its normal
condition ; and, on the other hand, if it becomes too dry and hard,
the supply is increased until it is brought to the proper consistence.
For the purpose of collecting the ameJgam formed in the batteries,
the latter are usually partly lined with plates of sheet copper. Upon
the surface of these plates the amalgam collects, not in a layer of
uniform thickness, but in irregular bunches and little ridges, the posi-
tion and thickness of which are mainly dependent upon the "swash**
produced in the battery by the order in which the stamps fall. The
curious effects of this ''swash," in determining the distribution of the
amalgam upon these plates, is a point worthy of more attention, perhaps,
than it has yet received.
Below the batteries come the sluices, with their copper plates,
riffles, etc. , for saving the gold escaping from the former ; these arrange-
ments, differing generally but little from such as are used in the
Grass Valley system ; the blankets and their accompaniments, how-
ever, being but rarely used where amalgamation in battery is prac-
ticed.
Various opinions are entertained by metallurgists and millmen as to
the efficiency and economy of battery amalgamation; some, who have
practiced it for years still adhering to it, satisfied with their experi-
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656 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBMIA.
ence, and, while it is no doubt open to certain objections^ it is prefer-
able to all others. Quartz mills usually run steadily both day and
night ; where, however, batteiy amalgamation is practiced it becomes
necessaiy now and then to stop the mill for a "clean up" — ^that is, to
collect the amalgam, which has accumulated in the batteries and on the
copper plates. Sometimes tibe whole mill is stopped for this purpose;,
while at others, in order to save time, a single battery only is stopped
and cleaned up, and then another, and so on, till the whole are thus
gone through with. A ' 'run " in a quartz mill varies, according to cir-
cumstances, from twenty to sixty days. The ameJgam obtained is
strained and retorted in the manner abeady described.
For the purpose of extracting free gold from quartz, the ore is rarely
reduced to any finer state of pulverization than is attained by crushing
under the stamps with the screens already described. But when aurif-
erous sulphurets are present, sufficiently rich in gold to make its
extraction an objecl^ they are frequently subjected to a further process
of pulverization and amalgamation. This is effected by grinding
them in a flow of water and mercury in an arrastra. Chili mill, or in
some of the many patent cast iron pans or grinding mills of recent
invention. These pans having first been introduced as a substitute for
the German barrel in working the silver ores of Nevada, where they
still continue in use, were afterwards employed also for working the
gold ores of this State; and, although they may in certain cases be used
here to advantage, especially in treating such mercurial residues as
may be collected £rom the various parts of a quartz mill, they are never*
theless gradually going out of use, many millmen having discarded
them altogether. For a description of these pans, and further infor-
mation touching the extraction of gold from the sulphureted ores,
Kusters recently published work on Concentration and Chlorination
may be consulted to advantage.
THE MABIPOSA PROCESS.
This process, so called from its having been first introduced at the
Benton mill, on the Mariposa estate, consists in reducing the ore to an
impalpable powder, by placing it, previously crushed to a coarse sand,
together with a quantity of chilled, half-inch cast iron bullets, in a
large horizontal revolving cylinder, or cask of wrought iron, thorough
pulverization being effected by the friction of tibe rolling balls. From
this '' ball grinder," as it is called, the ore is conveyed to a strong air-
tight iron chamber, where it is subjected to the action of the vapor of
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MINING AND XETALLXTBGIOAL PROCESSES. 657
mercury, yolatilized by means of superheated steam. When the amal-
gamation of the gold is supposed to be complete, the apparatus is
suffered to cool down, and the pulp having been discharged into a
receiver beneath, is then washed upon a long copper shaking table, to
collect the amalgam formed. This process, so far as tried, has worked
remarkably well, though the question of its general economy can hardly
be considered settled.
CONCENTRATION.
The concentration of ores is a subject of importance in California,
chiefly in so far as it relates to the separation or extraction of aurifer-
ous sulphurets from the mass of ore, of which they usually constitute
not more than one or two per cent, the proportion sometimes being
much larger. Notwithstanding its great practiced importance, the cop-
centration of sulphurets has hitherto received but comparatively little
attention in California. At Grass Valley, and in some other localities,
they are saved, to a certain extent, to be subsequently worked by the
chlorination, or some other process. For this purpose settling boxes
are usually employed, to catch the heavier sand, which is afterwards
worked over in a sluice, the cradle or rocker being sometimes used to
finish up the work. At Grass Valley, recourse has in a few cases been
had to a Cornish round buddle, while a variety of patent concentrators
have, to some extent, come into use in different parts of the State.
Of the latter, Hendy's concentrator, in its improved form, is believed
to be one of the best This valuable machine, which is designed for
separating the finely comminuted quicksilver, amalgam and gold from
the refuse matter and collecting the same, as well as for concentrating
and saving the sulphurets, operates through a combination of centri-
fugal force and gravitation — ^the only principles, as experience has
shown, capable of effectually accomplishing this object Of late this
concentrator has been coming into very general use, it having been
introduced into many of the leading mills of Grass Valley, at Virginia
City, and elsewhere in the State of Nevada; in Arizona, Mexico, Aus-
tralia^ and most other prominent gold and silver producing countries,
giving the most unqualified satisfaction wherever tested. But few of
these machines, however, are yet based upon a thorough comprehen-
sion of the whole subject, inasmuch as they are incapable of yielding
under varying circumstances the best attainable results — ^this question
of the concentration of ores being one beset with many inherent diffi-
culties. The problem to be solved can, indeed, be easily stated, since
the object to be obtained consists simply in effecting as complete a sep-
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£58 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBKLL
araidon as possible of the particles of ore, according to tiieir different
specific graTitie& But this, where a iai^e mass of material, consisting
of irregular particles of all shapes and sizes, from the coarsest sand to
the most impalpable slimes, cannot well be accomplished in a sin^
operation.
While much that is nsefnl maj be learned from what has been
achieved in continental Europe, it is not to be supposed iiiat every*
thing found to answer well there can be adopted without modification
here with equal chances of success^ inasmuch as the circumstances are
widely and often vitally different; still, many valuable hints, together
with much that is capable of direct and advantageous application, have
been derived by our metallurgists £rom tibe greater scientific knowledge
and experience of the Old World.
PLATTNER'S CHLOBINATION PROCESS.
This process^ which has been in use at Grass Valley, Nevada county,
for several years past, is the only method yet known by which the aurif-
erous sulphurets of California can be cheaply and economically worked
upon a large scale; more than ninety per cent, of the gold they contain
being obtained by this method. It is now ten years since the chlorin-
ation of auriferous sulphurets was first successfully introduced at Grass
Valley, and yet there are scarcely more than half a dozen of these
establishments in the State outside the limits of that place and the
adjacent town of Nevada^ so frequently are processes of real merit
overlooked and neglected, while those of doubtful utility are liberally
patronized.
It is now, however, becoming generally known, that auriferous sul-
phurets, containing but little silver, can be readily worked to within
less than ten per cent of the fire assay, at an expense of considerably
less than twenty dollars per ton. The outlines of the method by which
this result is effected being briefly as follows : the concentrated sul-
phurets are first subjected to a complete and thorough oxidizing roast-
ing, with constant stirring, upon the hearth of a reverberatory furnace,
for a length of time varying £rom twenty to twenty-four hours^ accord-
ing to the condition and character of the ore. In this roasting there
are two distinct periods, viz : the first, or oxidizing, and the second,
or final period, in which the various metallic salts formed during the
first are again decomposed. During the first period the temperature
employed is moderate, the ore being kept at a dark red heat only.
After the requisite temperature is once reached, comparatively little
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MINING AND KETALLUBaiCAL PB00E8SE& 559
fael is required, since the ore itself soon begins to glow, and from this
time on, the burning sulphur contributes lately towards maintaining
the heat of the furnace.
The most important chemical changes occurring at this stage are
the following : the sulphurets are gradually decomposed by the oxygen
in the heated stream of atmospheric air constantly passing over them ;
the sulphur is oxidized, the greater portion of it burning only to sul*
phurous acid, which passes off in the gaseous form ; and the metals,
originally combined with the sulphur, are also oxidized, a portion to
the state of protoxides only, while a portion passes to the state of
sesquioxides. The sulphur, however, does not all pass off as sulphur-
ous acid, a considerable portion of it being still further oxidized to
sulphuric acid, which combines with a portion of the metallic protox-
ides. During this period the ore, as it is stirred, constantly exhibits
the blue flame peculiar to burning sulphur, throwing out brilliant
sparks, produced by the rapid burning, in the heated air, of minute
particles of undecomposed pyrites.
When the series of changes above indicated are nearly complete,
the evolution of sulphurous acid greatly diminishes, the blue flame and
the sparks disappear, and the furnace exhibits a strong tendency to
cool down, calling for an increase of fuel, which, being added, the
second or fined period begins with the resulting increase of heai The
temperature being now raised to a bright red heat, the metallic sul«
phates formed during the first period are mostly decomposed, the sul-
phuric acid yielding a portion of its oxygen to the protoxides which
pass to the state of proxides, while the sulphurous acid produced is
driven off. Thus, at the end of the roasting, if it be properly conducted,
and only sulphurets are present in the ore, there remain the oxides of
the metals eJone with a certain quantity of sulphate of lead, (which is
not decomposable by heat eJone,) in case that metal is present Arsenic
and antimony, if present, behave very much like sulphur, except that
they have a stronger tendency to form arseniates and antimonates, and
that the seJts so formed are much more difficultly decomposed by heat
than is the case with the sulphates, so that a portion of them is eJways
found in the residue, while the quartz remains unchanged. The alka-
line ecuHlis, if present, are chiefly converted into sulphates, which are
undecomposable by heat. But as some of them, especially lime and
magnesia^ have a tendency in the subsequent operation to absorb
chlorine uselessly, and to produce some other undesirable effects, the
theory of which has not yet been very well investigated, the roasting
is sometimes, during the latter period, in case these earths are present,
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560 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
converted into a cUoridmng roasting bj the introduction of a certain
quantity of common salt into the furnace, which is found to obviate
the difficulty. When the roasting is complete the ore is discharged
from the furnace and allowed to cooL It is then damped with water to
the proper degree (it should be only damped, not wet) and sifted into
a large tub or vat — ^the chloridizing va<^— provided with a false bottom,
on which rests a filter composed of broken quartz and sand. The inside
of this vat is covered with a coating of bitumen, or other impervious
material not attacked by chlorine, in order to protect the wood. The
vat is provided with a close fitting cover, which can be luted on and
made air-tighi The ore being placed in the vat, chlorine gas is now
generated in a leaden vessel by means of sulphuric acid, common salt
and binoxide of manganese, and after being conducted through a vessel
of water, in order to free it from chlorhydric acid, which, if allowed to
pass into the ore, would produce a series of undesirable effects, is con-
veyed by a leaden pipe to the bottom of the vat. Here it gradually
accumulates and rises through the ore. But as it is some time in reach-
ing the top of the vat, the chlorine is generally admitted at the bottom,
in order to save time, before all the ore is introduced, and the latter is
then grdduaHj sifted in as the chlorine rises.
When the vat is filled and the gas makes its appearance at the top
of the ore, which may be known by its greenish-yellow color, as well
as by its suffocating odor, the cover is placed over the vat and luted
tight The chlorine is still allowed to enter the vat until it begins to
escape through a small hole in the cover, left open for the purpose.
The supply of gas is then shut oS, the hole in the cover stopped and
luted, and the whole allowed to stand for twelve or eighteen hours, to
complete the chlorodizing of the gold. Water is then introduced,
which absorbs the chlorine and dissolves the chloride of gold formed.
The solution is drawn off from the bottom of the vat, a small stream
being permitted to run in constantly at the top till the lixiviation is
complete. The residue in the chloridizing vat is then thrown away,
while the solution obtained, which is precious, as it contains all the
gold, is conducted to the precipitating vat or vats.*
The chlorine gas employed in this operation is suffocating and
poisonous if inhaled, and great care should be taken not to permit it
to escape within the building. But there is little danger of sudden
death from inhiiliTig chlorine, since a few whiffs of this gas will serve
as a sufficient admonition to greater caution.
To the solution of chloride of gold in the precipitating vats is now
added a solution of protosulphate of iron, which precipitates the gold
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MININO Ain> XETALLUBGIOAL FBOGESSES. 661
in {he form of impalpablj fine metallic powder. The solution is per-
mitted to stand for some time, osoallj over night, in order to afiford
time for the precipitated gold to settle completely. The water is then
carefollj drawn off, the precipitated gold collected upon a large paper
filter, carefully dried, and then melted and run into bars. The gold
bars thus obtained, when the work is properly conducted, are .999 fine.
In practice, this process requires careful attention in all its various
details, both in the roasting and in the subsequent chloridizing and
precipitation of the gold. The presence of silver in any considerable
proportion requires, moreoyer, important modifications of the process.
But where only gold is present in the sulphurets, there is little difficulty
— ^none but what can be readily managed by any one who has a fair
comprehension of the genereJ principles of the chemistry involved.
As stated, almost the only means yet adopted in California for
pulverizing auriferous quartz, is the stamp, employed in the manner
already described. Various other modes of crushing have been de-
vised, but none of them have ever been extensively adopted, and it is
difficult to foresee by what implement or mode the stamp is to be here-
after superseded, if any. In this connection it may be observed that
the style of the California stamp and battery arrangement is in advance
of that of any other country ; while the means here employed in the
best mills, to extract and save the gold, compares favorably with those
anywhere in use. But many of the mills in California are still very
imperfect in their gold saving appliances, the loss of the finer portions
of the metal in the tailings being large.
In the treatment of sulphurets the same is true, though perhaps in
a less marked degree; and it may be anticipated that the chlorination
process, as it comes to be more widely known and better appreciated,
will contribute largely to induce the employment of better and more
systematic methods of concentration, the whole securing such economy
in saving the precious metal, that a much lower grade of ore wiU sqon
be profitably worked than is practicable at present
In view of the many novel experiments being made, and, the new
inventions seeking recognition by the mining public, it may be said
that the employment of new modes and machinery promises, perhaps,
less certain success than an adherence to the old, if only it be used
with the requisite degree of intelligence and care.
86
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CHAPTER X.
MINES AND MINING.
Baind Explontion of the Placers— OverefltimaAe of Earnings— Chances Still Good— Im-
proved Conditions — ^Northwestern Counties — Character of Mines — Gold Beaches, etc- •
The Central Districts-^Yarions Branches of Placer Mining — Quartz Mining— Number
of liocations — ^Early Efforts — ^Present Besolts — ^Mining at Grass Valley— ^A Bepresenta-
tiTS Mine— Bntte, Sierra, and Plumas Coontiea — Gold Bearing Slates and G^>88an9 —
Auriferous Cement and Grayel Beds — Openings for Enterprise, Labor, and Capital —
SilTer^-Iron— QoickBilTer^-The New Almaden Mine— Mineralogy of the Pacific Coast.
As the discoyeiy of gold was the oause that led to the rapid pop-
ulating and permanent settlement of California^ so has the business of
mining for that metal since formed the leading pursuit of its inhabit-
ants. For six or eight years after that event, this occupation, in which
more than three fourths of the adult population of the State were en-
gagedy was prosecuted almost solely on the bars and eJong the banks,
or in the beds of the rivers and gulches, and upon the alluvial flats
that constituted the more superficial placers. During that period this
branch of mining advanced from a very crude and imperfect, to the
highly efficient and somewhat complicated system now in vogue ; and
which, in most localities, renders the exercise of some little skill, and
the employment of at least a small amount of capital, essential to
success.
Of the various improvements thus from time to time introduced,
it may be observed, that they were less the result of a provident fore-
sight than of a steadily increasing necessity growing out of the grad-
ual impoverishment of the richer and more accessible placers, whereby
the employment by the miner of labor-saving machinery and processes
became imperative, if he intended to maintain anything like his former
rate of earnings. These new modes and devices, thus necessitated,
multiplied in the ratio that the more superficial diggings became
exhausted, compelling the washing of larger quantities of auriferous
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UrSEB AND MINING. 663
earth, or the reaching of the more deeply seated deposits with the
smallest possible expenditure of time and pionej.
The yarions gold washing implements and methods now in nse do
not by any means embrace all the styles and contriyances that haye at
different times marked the history of mining inyention in Oalifomia.
The present perfection, as exhibited in these appliances and machines,
was not reached, as some may suppose, by regular and direct adyances
from the use of the pan and batea to that of the cradle, tom, and
sluice, culminating in the employment of the hydraulic apparatus and
the cement mill, without any other modes haying been meantime
deyised and tested. Many different plans were essayed, and soores of
machines were inyented and tried, to result aln;iost wholly in failure
and rejection ; the period most prolific in these experiments being that
which marked tibe transition £rom the use of the pan to the introduc-
tion of the hydraulic mode of washing. During its continuance a
multitude of gold saying machines were inyented and proyed ; some
of them being costly, ingenious, and more or less seryiceable, while a
much larger proportion were not only useless, but absurdly defectiye,
many wholly failing to separate the precious metal from the grayel
and sand, while a few possessed the still less desirable property of
saying the refuse and rejecting the gold.
For seyeral years after the discoyery of gold, the banks of the
riyers, and eyen the roads leading to the mines^ were lined with the
remains of these crude and worthless machines ; while in San Fran-
cisco the warehouses and wharyes, and often eyen the yacant lots, were
encumbered with them to a yexatious extent ; their more speedy dis-
appearance from these localities being due to the fact that the erection
of forges and foundries created there an earlier demand for old iron.
To eyen enumerate, much less describe all these inyentions, would
now be impossible, there being scarcely a model of any of them left,
while but few persons remain who could at this distant day accurately
describe them in all their details. It may be said of them, howeyer,
in a general way, that they consisted of washers of almost eyery con-
ceiyable size, shape and material, inyolying in their workings eyery
known principle of mechanics, and eyery moyement recognised by
dynamical science. Some were propelled by hand, and others by
steam or water power. One yariety employed riffles, and another
sieyes or screens as separators. Some were simple, and others com-
plex; some large and ponderous^ while others were reduced to the
smallest compass, being easily portable in the hand. The effectiye
principle in one kind consisted of a yibratory; in anotiier of a centri-
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564 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF OAUFOBNIA.
fugal^ or vertical action. In one case it was proposed to dredge the
bottoms of the rivers with a series of endless buckets revolving on a
cylinder, while again attempts were made to explore the deep still
holes with sub-marine armor. Ingenious, eccentric and diversified,
however, as were these contrivances, the fact that none of them ever
attained to more than a temporary popularity — a few being too mani-
festly absurd to secure even a trial, sufficiently attests their general
inutiliiy.
The sums of money spent upon these vagaries, during the earlier
days of placer mining, amounted to millions of dollars, or their equiva-
lent in time, a great deal of which was wasted in fruitless endeavors to
render these new methods and machines available. And yet it cannot,
perhaps^ be said that this money was all foolishly spent, or this time
vainly wasted. Aided by the lights of present experience, it is easy to
detect the practical errors then committed, and to point out the falla-
cious theories entertained ; but it should be remembered that little
was known at that day in regard to the origin of placer gold, the agen-
cies by which its deposits were formed, or even the places where it was
most likely to make lodgment; while the business of seeking after and
gathering it was- wholly new to our people, very few of whom had ever
seen even the simplest gold washing implement, or knew anything about
the manner of using them.
All these were problems to be solved and things to be learned; and
to the extent of that^ these efforts were undertaken in the furtherance
of these objects; they were entirely legitimate and even commendable.
Many of these theories were, no doubt, chimerical enough, and the
most of these inventions abundantiy absurd: still, as all this could only
be verified by actual examination and trial, these endeavors, however
abortive, fairly challenge not only respect, but i^nnpathy and approval
Though so generally disastrous to those undertaking them, and of littie
value in their immediate results, they undoubtedly formed a necessary
part of that extended system of experiments from which the present
highly effective means and modes of operating have been eliminated.
These disappointments and losses, though numerous and severo,
were but the sacrifices usually exacted of every great industry at the
outset — ^the crucial trials that many important interests in Galifomia,
including those of quartz mining, manufacturing, and evai farming,
have been forced to go through; but which, like the pursuit we are
considering, having survived these early trials, are now established on
a permanent and prosperous basis.
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JONES AND MININO. 565
BAPID EXPLORATION OF THE PLACERS- OVER ESTIMATE OF THE
EARNINGS,
The exploration of the placer mines^ which, during the year of their
discoyery had been extended to all the more central portions of the
great metalliferous range, was pushed so vigorously on the arrival of
the heavy immigration in 1849-50, that by the end of the latter year
nearly every auriferous gulch and stream of importance in the State,
except a few in its more northerly parts, had been discovered and par-
tially worked. The adventurous miner, during this short interval,
had, despite the want of trails, the hostility of Indians, and the many
difficulties to be encountered, pushed up all the principal rivers and
their branches ; and there, constructing his rude camp, had worked
over in a superficial and hasty manner, the bars of the streams and
the beds of the gulches ; some of their number taking out large, and
a few, immense quantities of gold dust in a very short time. Still,
the success of these pioneers was very unequal. If the miner happened
to strike a rich deposit, he made large wages — sometimes, quite a for-
tune, in the course of a few weeks or months at the furthest. Failing
in ihiB, it was often as much as the most industrious and frugal could
do to earn a livelihood, owing to the enormous cost of subsistence.
Still, these will ever be looked back to as the halcyon days of
placer mining, during the earlier portion of which the traditionary
ounce, being about a fair average of the miner's daily earnings, con-
tinued to be the standard of a day's wages. The current rate of wages
was not, to be sure, the exact measure of what could be earned in the
diggings^ inasmuch as the self-employed miners were, as a class, more
robust and energetic than those who hired out their labor ; yet they
indicate with sufficient accuracy the average earnings of the miner at
different periods, showing their rapid decline at first and more gradual
depreciation thereafter until they finally reached present rates. From
twenty dollars per day in '48, and sixteen in '49, daily wages had f aUen
to eight dollars two years thereafter, and to less than four dollars hj
the end of 1858, since which time they have undergone a further
decline of about thiriy per cent.
From the above it will be seen that the average reward of the
miner was comparatively moderate, even while the placers were virgin
and uncrowded ; it being doubtful if their individual earnings ranged
at any time above twenty or tweniy-five dollars per day at the utmost
As usually happens, however, in every pursuit where a few meet with
marked success, these exceptional cases, often exaggerated far beyond
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666 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA.
reality, were blazoned through the press and widely published by the
busy tongue of rumor, whereby they attained to an immense notoriety ;
while the hundredfold more numerous examples of failure, being
wholly overlooked, often sedulously concealed, were rarely heard of ;
or, if made known, were disregarded, as being prompted by sinister
motives, or were derided as the apologetic devices of the idle and irres-
olute. And thus it has happened, that a very erroneous impression as
to the general productiveness of the California placers at the outset,
having, through these means first obtained, is still widely prevalent;
many, ignorant of the real facts, deploring their ill luck in not having
been among the first to arrive in, the mines.
CHANCES STILL GOOD— IMPBOVED CONDITIONS.
If, however, we compare the past with the present, and carefully
canvass the advantages and disadvantages incident to both, it will be
found that the chances for success do not preponderate so greatly in
favor of the former as this class of persons are apt to suppose. In the
first place, the cost of living, as above stated, was then enormous; the
price of every article, whether of luxury or necessity, being out of all
proportion to those now prevailing. Owing to a lack of wholesome
food, medical attendance, comfortable dwellings, and other causes inci-
dent to the times, the miner was exposed to a variety of diseases — such
as scurvy, chronic diarrhoea, rheumatism, etc. — none of which are now
prevalent, some of them being almost wholly unknown. Formerly
much time was lost to this class in consequence of sickness — deaths,
also, being proportionately more numerous than at present. Then,
also, the lives of citizens were exposed to constant danger from acts of
violence, the whole country being filled with vicious and reckless men,
against whose attacks none were secure in either their persons or prop-
erty. The most audacious murders were perpetrated daily, and often
with impunity; while thefts, robberies and similar outrages were things
of too frequent occurrence to elicit attention, unless the public, in an
ebullition of passion, seizing the culprits, inflicted upon them summary
punishment. Then, too, the prospector in pushing out into new regions,
had to encounter numerous hardships and dangers arising from the
want of roads and trails, from scaniy fare, exposure to Indian attacks,
and many other evils, from which the explorer is at this day happily
exempt.
Much time was also uselessly wasted in searching after gold in
localities where with present experience none wotdd think of looking
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JOKES AND MIKIKO. 667
for it; while, as we have seen, a great deal of both time and money was
spent in vain endeavors to wash the auriferous earth bj means and
methods wholly impracticable. With incredible toil the early miner
pushed his researches high up into the Sierra, far beyond what is now
known to be the furthest limit of the gold-bearing belt, seeking after
the illusory sources whence had issued the deposits strewn along the
rivers below. Long and wearisome journeys were made away into the
depths of the gloomy wilderness over the crests of the snowy moun-
tains, and sometimes out on the hot and arid deserts beyond, in search
of mythical mountains composed mainly of the precious metali^ or
lakes, along the shores of which the sands glittered with virgin gold.
Taught by the mistakes of his predecessors, the modem prospector,
avoiding these errors, is enabled to insure for his expenditure of labor
and means, if not always more remunerative, at least more certain
returns; while, as regards comfort and health, the mining community
of Galifomia enjoy these blessings in as full measure as almost any
other, whether we seek for them in this country or elsewhere.
It cannot, indeed, be said that the opportunities for making ''big
strikes," as they are termed, or even large wages^ are as good now in
the placers of this State as they were at first This is especially true
in the case of the man of small means, more particularly if he propose
to spend but a short time, as, for example, a year or two only, in the
country. But where the new-comer is content to remain a series of
years, if necessary, and, proceeding to purchase or otherwise procure
an interest in a productive claim, labors diligently, observing sobriety
and economy, the chances for his amassing a moderate fortune, in the
course of a few years, are fully as good now as ever before. To
persons animated with these purposes, the placers of Galifomia are
scarcely less inviting now than they were fifteen or twenty years ago ; .
while, it may safely be affirmed, that to this class they offer induce-
ments unequalled by any other country or field of labor in the world.
Whoever can feel that, in the present altered conditions, he is amply
compensated for the somewhat diminished chances for the speedy
accumulation of riches^ and the excitements incident to an early sojourn
in California^ may repair to this country with the full assurance that
things, considered as a whole, have scarcely changed for the worse ;
there being still vast tracts of almost virgin mines, in certain parts of
the State, open to occupation, while in the earlier settled and more
populous mineral districts it is still an easy matter for good workers,
or men with smaU means, to acquire ownership of valuable claims
either by location or purchase.
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568 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
NOBTHWESTERK COUNTIES— CHARACTEE OF THE MINES — GOLD
BEACHES.
For such miners as are fitted to endure the hardsliips of a rough
and laborious life, the northwestern portion of the State, comprising
the counties of Shasta, Triniiy, Siskiyou, Klamath and Del Norte,
presents a favorable opening. But there are obstacles in the way of
emigration to this region; since, besides being far distant from the
great centers of population and difficult of access, it is exceedingly
rugged; almost the entire surface of the country being covered with
broken hills and lofty chains of mountains, separated by deep and
precipitous canons. The climate is rigorous, the winter rains being
long continued and heavy in the valleys, and the snow lying to a great
depth for several months on the mountains. Until within the past few
years many parts of it were infested by hostile Indians, whose depre-
dations and attacks operated to prevent its settlement and retard the
development of the mines. These savages having, however, been sub-
dued, some tribes being exterminated and others gathered upon reser-
vations, no further trouble need be apprehended on their account.
The facilities for reaching this section have also been somewhat
improved of late, in the construction of additional wagon roads lead-
ing into it from the head of Sacramento Valley, and by the establish-
ment of more regular steamship communication between San Francisco
and points along the northern coast, whereby one of the most serious
objections to emigration thither has been partially removed; and, it
seems probable, in view of the growing importance of this region, that
these facilities will hereafter be still further extended, there being a
prospect even that they will culminate in the construction of a railroad
extending from the bay of San Francisco northward into Humboldt^
and ultimately into Klamath and Del Norte counties — such an enter-
prise having recently been projected, with flattering prospects of being
pushed to an early completion.
This northern country is exceedingly well timbered and watered,
conditions highly essential in placer mining. There are here also
many small valleys well fitted for agricultural purposes, while fruits
of all kinds, grow with luxuriance, and the abundance of the native
grasses, renders this a very tolerable grazing district. The weather,
though stormy in the winter, is not extremely cold except on the moun-
tains, the snow rarely ever falling to any great depth in the valleys,
while at all other seasons of the year the climate is genial and exceed-
ingly healthful.
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lONES Ain> lONINO. 569
But it is in its mineral resources that this region commends itself
to our special attention, the inducements it holds forth being equally
strong to the laboring miner, the mill-man and the capitalist There
is here a vast area of auriferous ground, which, with proper manage-
ment, could easily be made to pay fair wages; even the localities most
extensively worked, not generaUy being so much depleted as to prevent
the new comer securing remuneratiye claims. Much of the country has
not yet been thoroughly prospected, leaving a chance for further dis-
coveries— operations having heretofore been chiefly confined to the
larger rivers and their principal branches. And even along some of
these, it is now believed very extensive and valuable deposits of gold
exist, parties lately prospecting certain bars on the Lower Klamath
having obtained such results as warrant the conclusion that important
diggings will yet be developed at these localities.
It has also been demonstrated by numerous working tests that this
section abounds with quartz veins of great richness, the average yield
obtained by very imperfect milling processes frequently surpassing
that of the most productive mines at Grass Valley. These lodes can,
as a general thing, be easily procured, very many of them being in
fact still open to location. With the abundance of fine timber growing
everywhere throughout the mines, and the ample supply of water, it is
obvious that the work of reduction, with machinery once on the ground,
could be performed very cheaply.
Klamath and Del Norte counties also contain the most prolific of
the several gold beaches, elsewhere in this volume fully described, and
which are constantly growing in importance and value. In the vicinity
of these deposits others further inland have lately been found, being
the remains of ancient sea beaches, formed at a time when the ocean
stood at a higher level, or the land was less elevated than at present
Some of these buried beaches are covered only by a few feet of black
sand and vegetable mold, and are otherwise favorably situated for
cheap and extended working ; and it is now the opinion of competent
judges, who have carefully examined them, that they will soon become
the theatres of profitable mining.
Before dismissing the subject of these northern counties, it may
be stated, that beds of auriferous cement and gravel have been found
at various points within their limits, being, as is supposed, identical
in character and mode of formation with the deep-lying strata of
Nevada, Butte, and Sierra counties. Should such prove to be the
fact, they will, without doubt, be found extensive, opening a wide and
lucrative field for mining enterprise.
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670 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CJAUPOBNIA,
Possessing so many natural advantages, and containing as yet bat
a sparse population, whereby new-comers can take up mining grounds
for themselves, and thus become their own employers, this region
would seem to present as many inducements to the newly arrived
miner, or others of that class who may be desirous of changing their
location, as any other in the State.
THE MORE CENTRAL DISTRICTS— VARIOUS BRANCHES OP PLACER
MININa.
To such as prefer pursuing their vocation in the older and more
populous districts, there are the several departments of mining com-
prising the surface placers, the deep-lying cement and gravel beds, and
the vein or quartz working branches of the business to choose from,
each offering advantages according to the means, experience, and pur-
poses of the party proposing to engage in it. Concerning all these,
so much has been said in various parts of this work, more especially
with reference to their modes of occurrence and the implements and
processes employed for carrying them on, that the remarks in this
chapter will be confined chiefly to considerations connected with
mining as a profitable field for labor and investment
And here it may be proper to observe, that by the term miningy is
meant the business of prospecting for, purchasing, exploring, and
practically working the auriferous deposits of this State, of whatever
kind, with a view to the profits that may be made to accrue from this
pursuit, followed as a permanent occupation, and not the business of
dealing in mining stocks, whether fancy or otherwise, much less that
of organizing schemes for visionary and fraudulent purposes, whereby
legitimate mining has hitherto been hurt and scandalized, through the
odium excited by the reckless speculations and shameful impositions
practiced in its name. Happily, the public is now too well advised of
these sharp and fraudulent practices to render precautionary advice
necessary ; none but the most stupidly ignorant or wilfully blind being
any longer liable to become their victims.
If, then, the adventurer, having discarded all speculative aims,
desires to pursue the occupation of placer mining, he will do best to
seek the more northerly group of counties, comprising Placer, Nevada,
Yuba^ Butte, Sierra, and Plumas. If a novice, and without means,
it will generally be found expedient for him to work on wages, until
such time as he has become familiar with the modes of operating, and
acquired some knowledge as to the character of the different kinds of
deposits, their methods of occurrence, and the rules to be observed
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XINES AND MININa. 571
in prospecting for or searcliing after them. With this knowledge and
experience gained, he may proceed to take np claims for himself, if,
as is generally the case, any of sufficient value can be found to justify
locating ; or, having earned some money, he may now buy an interest
in grounds previously secured by other parties, and which, if not
already developed to a productive condition, may have been sufficiently
prospected to enable him to form a tolerably accurate estimate of its
value.
Once an owner in even a passably good piece of ground, the miner,
unless his luck happen to be unusually bad, will be able to make ordin-
ary wages — say from three to four dollars i>er day — ^his earnings, where
purchases are made, generally being in proportion to the amount of
money invested. In buying a part interest^ or the whole of a claim,
tiie price paid varies, of course, with its supposed value — ranging from
a few hundred to quarter of a million dollars, or more — ^there being
many of these properties, and even individual interests therein, that
could not be bought for the latter sum.
The amount of labor and money required to open a claim not already
developed varies widely, according to its situation and character —
being, moreover, in many cases dei>endent on conditions that cannot
be judged of accurately beforehand. Thus, the cost of opening some
of the more expensive of the ancient river bed and blue gravel
claims has varied from $100,000 to $200,000 — the expenditure upon
very many of them having been between $50,000 and $100,000 —
and the time consumed in the prosecution of the heavier works
having ranged from two to ten years. These, however, are the
most difficult class of placer claims to open — ^the next, in point of
expense, the hydraulic, costing much less, except where long bed rock
tunnels may be called for. Where these are necessary the time and
expense required for their construction are often very great. These
hydraulic and gravel claims constitute, however, the best openings for
enterprise in this department of mining, where ample capital is at com-
mand, or where sufficient labor can be associated for their successful
prosecution. Where this is not the case, there still remains to the miner
a broad scope of shallow placers found generally on the lower foot-
hills, and sometimes quite out on the rolling prairies that skirt the
great interior valleys. The auriferous soil here is not usually more
than a few feet deep ; their great extent, and the extreme facility with
which they can be opened and worked, compensating for their want of
depth. In the winter, when water can be had free or at little cost, a
great portion of these diggings can be made to pay fair wages. They
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672 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP OAUFOBNIA.
are generally open to location, or where taken up, can be bought at
nominal prices. Where supplied with permanent and chei^ water they
ean be steadily worked with remuneratiye results, though only in a few
localities can these conditions be mei Every year additional water is
being brought upon them by means of new ditches, and the business of
working them is likely to increase gradually hereafter, as they must
always be in favor with men of small means.
The river bars and banks, and the auriferous gulches which formed
the scene of the early miners* toils, are now well nigh exhausted, hav-
ing been worked over so repeatedly as to no longer reward the labor of
washing. The river bed claims, like those above mentioned, have also
in many instances been stripped of their contents; and where they have
not, besides being expensive and precarious, are generally monopolized
to an extent that leaves few chances for outsiders getting hold of them
to advantage.
A style of mining or rather an additional method for saving the
gold that before was lost, introduced sometime since, has latterly come
largely into use. It consists of what is known as tail sluicing and is
practiced as follows : A canon, or ravine, is selected through which
extensive hydraulic claims discharge their tailings. Along this, a broad
sluice, varying in width from six to twenty feet, is laid down, being
generally constructed in two compartments, that one may be kept in use
while the other is being cleaned up. These sluices are always of as
great length as circumstances will permit, being from a few hundred
feet to a mile or more long — one being at present in process of con-
struction by the Palmyra Mining company, which, when complete, is to
have the unusual length of six miles. It is being laid down in Mis-
souri and Greenhorn canons, Nevada county, the outlet of a group of
the richest and most extensive hydraulic claims in the State. It is gen-
erally estimated that less than two thirds of the gold is saved by the
process of hydraulic washing; the balance passing off with the tailings,
in the shape of extremely fine particles, which, owing to the strength
of the current, elude not only the riffles and other appliances, but also
the quicksilver placed in the hydraulic sluice. These particles can only
be arrested where the current is slower, and the distance they have to
travel is increased, giving them a better chance to settle — all of which
is accomplished by the tail sluice at little cost after it is once con-
structed, the owner being at no expense for water, quicksilver, pow-
der, or other material for breaking down the earth or saving the gold,
and but comparatively little for labor, since the only attention it
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HIKES AND MIKIKO. £73
requires for weeks^ or even months at a time, being to keep it from
becoming obstructed, and to clean it up at the end of that period.
As these tailings, after passing from the grounds of the hydraulic
miner, are free to whoever may choose to claim and take the means to
secure them, and as it is found that they can be made to yield fair, and
often large profits, the business is likely to present many good openings
for men of industrious habits and small capital At present there are
thought to be numerous unappropriated canons where money could be
made at tail sluicing, while the increase of hydraulic washing must con-
stantly add to these opportunities. There is also a likelihood of con-
tinued improvements being introduced in the methods of operating,
whereby a larger percentage of the gold passing off with the tailings
will be saved, rendering it profitable to work them much more exten-
sively than at present. The loss of the precious metal is still enormous,
owing to the extremely comminuted particles escaping, as the sluicing
is now performed. Hereafter, it may reasonably be expected that»
through the application of more effective mech€mical inventions, and
perhaps, also, of chemical appliances, operations in this branch of min-
ing will undei^o a marked expansion.
And so in other departments of the business, with the introduction
of new improvements and inventions, similar progress will be made —
all the more important and permanent branches of mining having,
with the progress of time, undergone steady enlargement. Auriferous
deposits that a few years ago were overlooked as worthless, now give
remunerative employment to large numbers of laborers. Quartz that
could not» at one time, be made to defray cost of extraction, is now
making millionaires of the fortunate owners ; while tailings that were
suffered to run to waste, having given rise to a new branch of mining,
are, as we have seen, now being washed with largely accruing profit&
And thus, in canvassing the future prospects of the gold mining
interest of this State, we are warranted in presuming that it will con-
tinue to experience large and constant expansion through the applica-
tion of the same means that have hitherto worked these results ; while
the business of exploring for new mines, both in quartz, the ancient
river channels, and in hydraulic deposits, will, no doubt, lead to im-
])ortant discoveries in every direction — the field of labor, from what-
ever point viewed, appearing almost illimitable, and the future full of
encouragement and promise.
In speaking of the improvements and discoveries made on a grand
scale, and which look to the general advancement of mining, it is not
intended to convey the idea that these isolated cases of success, denom*
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674 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
inated '^ big strikes," which marked the early miner's career, no longer
happen. Though not so numerous as formerly, they are still of fre-
quent occurrence ; a reluctance to add unnecessarily to his income tax,
and other prudential motives, restrain the miner from making these
lucky incidents known so freely as before. Many of them, however,
still come to light — ^the newspapers published in the mining regions
constantly recording these instances of individual success, showing that
the era of big nuggets and '^rich pockets'* is by no means over in
California.
The revenues accruing to the owners of the larger and more lucra-
tive hydraulic and gravel claims are often very large, varying from
tweniy thousand to one hundred thousand dollars, and upwards, per
year. Thus, we find that one individual reports an annual income,
derived chiefly from a single gravel claim in which he is part owner, of
$102,000. Four i>ersons, residents of the small mining camp of Tim-
buctoo, give in an aggregate yearly income of $109,000, derived from a
hydraulic claim of which they are joint owners. These parties were aU
but a few years since poor, hard working men, having opened these
now largely productive claims principally with their own labor.
How enormously some of these grounds pay may be inferred from
the sums expended by the owners for water supplies annually ; thus,
the water account of the Babb company, at Timbuctoo, for the past
three years, reaches the sum of $90,000 — the Michigan company, near
by, having, during a like period, expended for this item a still larger
sum. Another company at this place, having already paid out on this
account $120,000, will have to incur a still larger expenditure before
their ground is exhausted. A cluster of hydraulic claims on the Big
Blue Lead, Nevada county, all within a compass of a few square miles,
pay an annual rental for use of water of nearly half a million dollars —
there being many other mining camps in that section of the State where
proportionally large sums are expended for a similar purpose.
QUABTZ MININO.
The examples of extreme large results obtained in this branch of
mining are less frequent than in the hydraulic and gravel diggings, it
being generally marked by a steadier and surer, though more moderate
success than the other. Without attending to the extremely rich and
generally limited deposits of quartz that have heretofore been foimd
in certain localities, as at Carson Hill and elsewhere, and from which
millions of dollars have in a short time been extracted, thousands of
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XIHES AND MININa 575
dollars worth haying been sometimes thrown out at a single blast, or
stopping to dwell upon the workings of a few exceptionally rich veins,
such as the Soolsby and Allison Banch, it will be our business at this
time to briefly consider the average results attending the practical
every day working of quartz in this State.
It has already been explained, that there is one leading vein, or
rather system of veins, running longitudinally across, and very near
the centre, laterally considered, of the great gold bearing belt of Cal-
ifornia— ^that there are other subordinate groups of veins running par-
allel to, and on either side of this main one, the distance separating
them varying in width from two or three to ten or fifteen miles, the
intervening space also frequently containing valuable lodes and masses
of quartz — ^that the most largely productive and permanent deposits
of auriferous rock are usually found along these parallel ore channels —
and, finally, that the gold bearing rock, or ore, occurs along the same
in bunches, known as ** chimneys," or ** chutes," being very unevenly
distributed, and, so far as known, without much reference to regulariiy
or system, some portions of these veins being rich in the precious
metal while others are barren — even all semblance of a lode for long
stretches entirely disappearing. This grand central vein is often
denominated the ''mother lode," or, in the Spanish, the 'Teta Madre,'*
meaning the predominating lode or ore channel of the country. In
stating that this mother vein is more largely productive than any
others, it is meant that it affords a greater amount of pay rock — ^not
that it'is richer, it being in fact below the average grade of California
quartz. The reason that the mines situated upon it pay better than
those elsewhere, is not only that it turns out much greater bodies of
ore, but the latter can be extracted at less cost than from narrow lodes,
encased in harder varieties of metamorphic rock.
With this much premised, it will be understood that the operations
of quartz mining and milling are confined mostly to certain belts of
country ; though occasionally very extensive and profitable fields for
carrying on the business present themselves in regions far removed from
the mother lode, the northwestern group of counties furnishing a case
in point ; while the Meadow Lake country, lying on the summit of the
Sierra, supplies an example of promising quartz mines, in what is
termed an '' outside" district
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576 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNU.
miMBEB OF LOCATIONS— EABLY EFFOBTS.
There are 472 quartz mills in this State, carrying a total of 5,120
stamps — the whole erected at an aggregate cost of about $10,000,000.
In regard to the number of mining claims located and held under
compliance with local laws^ it would be impossible to form even an
approximate estimate, as new locations are being constantly made and
old ones abandoned. It may be said, however, that the company loca-
tions, embracing from two or three to twenty or more individual claims,
can be numbered by the thousand; even what are considered separate
lodes being very numerous.
For several years at first, and up till 1856 or 1858, nearly all ike
quartz operations undertaken in this State proved failures; the high
prices of labor, freights and material, and above all, a total ignorance
of the business having been the principal causes contributing to this
result During the past ten years, however, these conditions having
been steadily changing for the better, we find that this pursuit, estab*
lished on a solid footing, may justly be accounted one of the most safe,
profitable and prospectively permanent of all these great industries
that underlie and impart steadiness to so many subordinate occupations
and interests.
It is not our purpose in this place to speak in detail of the business,
or to enlarge on isolated cases of success or failure; all that can be
done in the limited space at command being to allude in general terms
to certain classes of operations, and the results that have attended
them.
PBESENT RESULTS.
Beginning at the southern end of the great auriferous range, we find
there are in Tulare and Eem counties thirty quartz mills, carrying an
aggregate of two hundred and sixty-five stamps, all but five of these
mills being in the latter county, and a majority of them in what is
known as the Clear Greek district The veins here are numerous and
of medium size, varying from two to six feet in thickness. The ores
above the line of permanent water carried mostly free gold; and as but
little trouble was encountered in their treatment, these mines were, for
tiie first few ye€u*s after the introduction of mills, worked with marked
success; the advantages for cheap reduction, with the exception of high
freights, being moderately good. After reaching the sulphureted ores,
however, so much difficulty has been experienced in their management
that not more than one quarter of the mills in that region have been
running for the past two years, the product of bullion having meantime
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lONXS AJSfD MIKIKO. 577
fallen off in a corresponding ratio. With the trouble of working the
solpharets once mastered, as it no doubt will be, this must again
become a prosperous district^ as the veins carry a fair per centage of
gold and give satisfactory evidence of permanence.
Concerning the lodes and milling operations in Mariposa couniy,
tiie next quartz mining district coming north, and separated from
Clear Creek by a space of nearly two hundred miles, so much data has
been jiresented elsewhere in this volume, that only a few facts of gen-
eral purport will be here introduced.
The ores of the Princeton, the leading mine in this district, and
one of the first opened, having been worked as early as 1852, yielded
a short time as high as $75 per ton, this being while the workings
were confined to the decomposed sulphurets near the surface. Subse-
quently, and up till 1864 the ores yielded an average of $18.34 per
ton, the cost of raising ores having been $6, and the milling $3.25 per
ton, whence, it appears, that a net profit of nearly fifty per cent
accrued. In the latter part of 1864, the yield suddenly dropped to $6
per ton, then again increased until the mine is now yielding a profit^
though by no means so large as formerly. The main shaft has reached
a depth of nearly seven hundred feet, and it is probable that further
sinking will reveal new bodies of valuable ore, such having, under
ftiTOilftr circumstances^ frequently been the experience in this State.
A number of examples could be cited in which the yield of gold having
fallen below a remunerative point, has again been restored to its former
standard, upon the lode being exploited to greater depths. In almost
every extensively worked vein, zones of barren quartz may be expected
to occur both on its vertical and longitudinal extensions, yet no experi-
enced miner ever thinks of abandoning it where other characteristics
of permanence are present. The Princeton ores have been reduced
at a twenty-four stamp steam-mill, erected in 1860, at a cost of $40,000,
and although this property has suffered much from mismanagement,
the ores having for a long time been treated in a wasteful way, and
large sums having been uselessly expended upon it, it is still consid-
ered valuable, there being scarcely a doubt but the ores under per-
sistent exploitation will sD far improve that fair profits will again accrue
from their working. The aggregate product of this mine approximates
the sum of $3,000,000.
Located near the north end of this county, belonging, like the
Princeton mine, to the Fremont estate, and like it worked from a very
early period, are two veins, known as the Pine Tree and the Josephine,
both of which, after undergoing fluctuations similar to the Princeton,
37
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578 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA.
are now, with the employment of a new method of amalgamation,
giving good returns — the ore crashed yielding an average of $30 p^
ton, whereby a large margin is afforded for profit. Under the present
administration, this property, including two first class mills^ which at
one time had depreciated to a mere nominal value, promises to become
largely and permanently productive.
As these several mines are supposed to fairly represent the class of
larger veins in Mariposa, it will not be necessary to go into an indi-
vidual description of the character and workings of the latter, the
most of which could, no doubt, with a much less expenditure of mon^,
be made to yield revenues equal to those now being derived from the
Pine Tree and Josephine. Of the smaller class of veins in this county,
which are quite numerous, many have been made to pay large w^^es^
worked by arastras, a favorite method of operating among the Mexi-
cans, who have been most largely engaged in the business.
In Tuolumne county, the App, Dutch Claim, Bawhide Banch, and
a few other leading veins^ heretofore freely commented upon, may be
accepted as representative mines of the county. Further north, in
Calaveras and Amador, several groups of valuable veins present tiiem-
selves at Carson Hill, Angel's Camp, Volcano, Sutter Creek, and other
points along the motiier vein; some of which, under a system of
thorough development, have been brought to a highly productive con-
dition; fully illustrating the importance of a i>ersistent and intelligent
application of means in the exploration of this class of mines.
Of all this number of mines, that belonging to the Amador Com-
pany, situated at Sutter Creek, is' the most noteworthy, being in fact
one of the most valuable pieces of mining property in the State. From
a recent report on this mine made by Messrs. W. Ashburner and Henry
Janin, Mining Engineers, it appears that the main working shaft has
been sunk to a depth of 1, 109 feet on the vein, which inclines at a mean
angle of 71^, being equivalent to a vertical depth of 1,049 feet, making
it the deepest shaft in the State. The claim of this company embraces *
two main lodes, the Eureka^ from twelve to twenty feet wide, and the
Badger, from one and a half to three and a half feet in width.
The gold here, though mostly free, being but little associated with
sulphurets, is so generally disseminated throughout the rock as to be
rarely visible to the naked eye. The only sulphuret present, that of
iron, occurs in the small proportion of only one half of one per cent
The average yield of the entire body of ore taken from this mine, hav-
ing been about $14 per ton for the previous ten years, returned at the
rate of over $20 per ton during the fifteen months ending with Febru-
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KIKES AND lONINO. 579
aiy, 1868; the improvement, which had been constant as greater depth
was attained, throughout all this time, having been very marked during
tiie past year and a quarter, the best ore coming from the lowest levels
of the mine. The ore recently raised from the deepest point reached
on the Badger lode paid at the rate of $95 per ton. It shows more free
gold than that taken from any other portion of the mine, carrying at
the same time a larger per centage of sulphurets.
Taking the earnings of the past year, which it is believed can be
steadily kept up, as a guide, the following results may be counted on
as likely to attend the future workings of this mine : Quartz raised
monthly, 1,800 tons; average yield, $20.04 per ton; cost of milling and
mining, $6.04 per ton; net profits, $14 per ton; total monthly product,
$36,000; expenses, $10,800; clear profits, $25,200 — giving for net
annual earnings $302,400. The Company own two mills, the Eureka^
carrying forty, and the Badger sixteen stamps, and having a joint
capacity to crush sixty-five tons of rock daily, a quantity far less than
the mine might easily be made to supply. The net value of the
reserves, being such bodies of ore as may be said to be already in
sight, is estimated by Messrs. Ashbumer & Janin at $847,653 — suffi-
cient with the present reduction capacity to keep the company's milla
engaged for several years to come.
liMshould be remembered that the prospects of this mine were any-
thing but auspicious at first, some of the early owners having given it
up in despair. For many years the ore extracted was of too low grade
to cover cost of raising and reduction; and but for the pertinacious
efforts of a single individual, with little other means than his own
labor, it would, most likely, have been abandoned during the earlier
stages of its development as being utterly worthless. The principal
object in presenting the foregoing details has been to exemplify the
conditions upon which success in this department of mining is some-
times dependent, and to impress upon those engaged in its prosecution
the necessity that exists for the exercise of the most unyielding perse-
verance and energy.
MINES AND MINING AT GBASS VALLEY.
Although there are in both El Dorado and Placer counties many
valuable veins of quartz, with numerous examples of successful mining
and milling operations, there are here no such clusters of productive
claims as are found at Grass Yalley, or instances of long continued and
marked success as is furnished by the Amador, the Sierra Buttes and
various other mines in the more northerly coxmties; wherefore, it can
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5S0 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
be thought no disparagement to the many excellent mines within their
limits that so little has been said of them in a review so salient.
As at Orass Yallej, operations in quartz mining were first inaoga-
rated, so haye they since been conducted here with greater stead&st-
ness^ energy and general success than at any other point on this coast
In what has been done here we have an epitomized history of the busi-
ness— of its vicissitudes, good fortunes and reverses in California.
Hence, in treating on this topic, that place is apt to be selected for
remark, since the experience had, here more fully exemplifies the whole
subject than that of any other locality in the State.
It is still problematic whether the greater productiveness of the
mines at Qrass Valley is due more to the large amount of well directed
labor and the amplitude of the means employed in their development,
or to their inherent and absolute superiority. Should it be owing to
the former, their citation as an example of what may be accomplished
through these agencies, will serve our present purpose all the better —
it being simply to enforce upon every one, whether already engaged, or
who may contemplate engaging in the business of quartz mining, the
imperative necessity that exists for unrelaxed effort until results entirely
determinate are arrived at.
Labor on the lodes at Grass Yalley, begun in 1850, has been con-
tinued without interruption since. Passing over the earlier years of the
business, which even in this favored locality were full of disaster, we
find that the yield of the quartz mines has for a number of years past
been at the rate of about $3,200,000 per annum, which, there being a
little upwards of 2,000 men employed in the mines and mills there,
would give an average yearly production of $1,600 for each work-
man. The total gold product for the last fifteen years is estimated at
about $30,000,000; a single lode, that running through Massachusetts
and Gold Hills, upon which several company claims are located, having;
prior to 1865, yielded $5,000,000 worth of gold. There are twenty-
three quartz mills in this district, carrying an aggregate of a little over
two hundred and eighty stamps, and having a capacity to reduce nearly
one hundred thousand tons of ore annually. Twenty of these mills
are propelled by steam, and three by water, the whole having cost
about $500,000. The lodes here are narrow, none of them exceeding
seven feet, and many being less than one foot wide. But they are dis-
tinguished for the uniformly high grade ores they carry, the latter aver-
aging between $30 and $35 per ton. They contain a large per centage
of sulphurets^ which contributes with the narrowness of the veins to
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MINES AND lONIKa. 681
render the ayerage cost of extraction and reduction high — about $15
per ton.
A REPRESENTATIVE MINR
Without referring to the Allison Banch, Eureka, and other of the
older and heretofore more prominent companies at this place, with the
operations of which the public are already tolerably well acquainted,
we will present at this time a few leading facts bearing upon the work-
ing of mines with which they are less familiar. Of this class is the prop-
erly of the North Star Company, now thoroughly opened, and of great
prospective value. The main working shaft on this mine has been
sunk to a depth, on the incline, of nine hundred feet, being equivalent
to a vertical depth of three hundred and two feet, operations being in
progress for the opening of still lower levels. A vertical shaft has also
been projected, to have a depth of four hundred and fifty feet, which,
when completed, will tap the vein six hundred feet below present
workings, following its slope, affording ores for many years to come —
this company having alwaj^ observed the wise policy of keeping explo-
ration well in advance of requirement. This lode, but about one foot
in thickness in the croppings, has increased to two and a half in pres-
ent lower levels, the ore having steadily undergone a corresponding
improvement Although work upon the North Star lode was com-
menced at an early day and kept up without intermission, it supplies
a notable example of a mine paying all expenses of exploration and
improvements, and making large dividends, without ever having levied
an assessment The force now employed consists of one hundred
and fifiy men ; the improvements are a sixteen stamp steam mill, pow-
erful hoisting works, and all other aids and apparatus usually appurte-
nant to a first class mill and mine. The product of the North Star for the
four years ending January 1st, 1867, amounted to $842,100, it having
yielded dividends at intervals for upwards of seventeen years. The
net profits realized during the past nine years have amounted to over
$600,000. The gross earnings of the mine for the past two years have
been at the rate of about $26,000 per month — ^the net profits varying
from $10,000 to $12,000 per month.
Vast masses of ore remain in the reserves, or backs, opened by drifts
from the main shaft ; a large portion of the vein above the three lower
levels being virgin and unbroken. The plan of letting out all under-
ground work by contract having been first introduced by this company,
and f oxmd to operate to the satisfaction of all parties^ the system has
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582 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
Binoe been adopted hj other companies to an extent that promises its
general introduction throughout the State.
There are many other companies engaged in quartz mining and
milling at Grass Valley, and of whose operations and properties the
general public hear but little, but who are able to make showings very
similar to this exhibit on the part of the North Star Company ; the
case of the latter having been presented more fully, merely as indicat-
ing what is being accomplished by no inconsiderable number of mines
at that place.
BUTTE, SIEBBA AND PLUMAS.
Although we do not find in either of these counties any great or
extremely active quartz mining center, still, each contains a large num-
ber of mills, with many productive and a vastly greater number of
undeveloped but promising mines, the greater attention paid to the
placers having tended to retard this branch of mining. Though this class
of operations have here been much restricted, the average success, so far
as they have gone, has been not greatly behind that at Grass Valley;
the product of one or two claims in Sierra having been second only to
that of the best mines in Nevada county. Among the more noted
examples of success in this region, is that supplied by the workings of the
Sierra Buttes Mine, the locality and general features of which are else-
where partially described in this work. This vein, which is inclosed in a
hard metamorphic slate, varies in thickness from six to thirty feet. In
process of extraction, only the richer portion, consisting of a streak
about twelve feet thick lying next the foot-wall, is removed. The lode
has now been worked to a depth of over eight hundred feet, the ore
from the lower levels paying as well as that nearer the surface, though,
owing to extensive decomposition, the croppings paid better than any
other portion. After getting below the point to which atmospheric
and similar influences had extended, the ore has undergone but little
variation, having given an average yield of about $14 per ton. This
valuable property was first located in 1851, though little was done upon
it until 1854 from which time until 1857 the croppings were worked at
intervals with arrastras, yielding a gross product during this period of
$175,000, and a net profit of $80,000. During the latter year a Chili
mill and several additional arastras were put up, the running of which
resulted in a corresponding increase of earnings. In 1858 an eight-
stamp mill was erected, followed in 1860 by two additional twelve-
stamp mills.
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MINES AND KININa. 583
The following table exhibits the gross earnings and net profits of
this mine for the past eleyen years :
Oitom TiekL Profits.
1857 $51,000 $36,000
1858 55,000 40,000
1859 88,000 68,000
1860 120,000 83,000
1861 198,000 154,000
1862 *. -^164,000 112,000
1863 158, 000 100,000
1864 90,000 15,000
1865 * 198,000 132,000
1866 223,000 144,000
1867 180,000 105,000
Pnortol857 175,000 80.000
Totals $1,700,000 $1,069,000
The quantity of ore crashed during this time approximated 130,000
tons. The cause of the decline in the product of 1863-64, was insuffi-
ciency of water to run the company's mill, compelling the building of
a flume at a cost of $40,000, to bring in an additional supply.
GOLD-BEARING SLATES AND GOSSANS.
About the year 1860 attention began to be directed for the first time
to a species of auriferous deposits discovered in the copper bearing
range adjoining the main gold belt on the west The first claim of this
kind taken up was at Quail Hill, in the Gopher Mining District, Cala-
veras county, it having been located for copper during the prevailing
excitement about that metal in the year above mentioned. Subse-
quently, over 160 tons of copper were shipped from these grounds,
consisting chiefly of the green and blue carbonates, containing about
$50 value per ton of the precious metals, and averaging thirty-two per
cent of copper. The superficial area of the claim comprises a paral-
lelogram 1,800 feet long, and 600 feet wide. This deposit, which
exhibits strong croppings, is, in its upper portions, a regular gossan,
stained everywhere with the oxide of iron and the carbonate of copper,
giving it a peculiarly variegated and rusty, or ochreous appearance.
The explorations made upon it sufficiently disclose its character, prob-
able value, and extent — enough having been done to prove it an ore
channel at least three hundred feet wide, and probably of a much
greater width. Its contents, so far as exposed, consist wholly of the
decomposed metallic sulphurets, which, mixed with spongy white
quartz, talcose and chloHtic rocks, rotten porphyry, heavy spar, etc.,
are all BO thoroughly decayed as to yield readily to the pick, rendering
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681 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF GAUFOBKIA.
iheir removal a matter of little expense. The original vein, of gigan-
tic dimensions, seems to have been higUj charged with the snlphorets
of copper and iron, both of which, as well as the gangue itself, having
become impregnated throughout with the precious metals. Almost
every part of this decomposed mass, including the rocky croppings,
when pulverized and washed, yields a fair ** prospect" of free gold.
These grounds have been somewhat extensively prospected by
means of various pits, open cuts, tunnels and shafts ; all of which,
though some of the latter have been sunk to a depth of over one hun-
dred feet, continue in highly productive material, indicating that nearly
the entire mass can be worked with profit.
The company owning this mine erected upon it a twenty stamp mill,
in the autumn of 1867, for the purpose of reducing its contents. For
several months at first the yield did not exceed three or four dollars
per ton, which, however, as the cost of extraction and crushing was
small, still left some margin for profits. Subsequently the character
of the material grew better, having undergone such marked improve-
ment that the yield in February, 1868, averaged over $9 per ton,
enabling the company to pay at that time a monthly dividend of $4000,
a rate that it is believed can be not only kept up, but steadily increased
hereafter, a better grade of ores having been developed as greater
depth was attained. The cost of mining and milling here is but 12 60
per ton, the gold being easily saved by amalgamation in the batteiy
and the use of blankets, no other apparatus or process being necessary
to its thorough extraction.
The present working levels are now over one hundred feet below
the surface, at which point the mass of pay matter has not only
increased in richness, but seems to maintain its original dimensions,
as well as its decomposed and ochreous character. Some excavations
recently made at a higher level have also revealed richer deposits than
had previously been found in the upper works.
This company, besides their mine, are owners of a very valuable
water franchise and works, consisting of a large reservoir and over
twenty miles of canals, affording water ample for the use of the adja-
cent mining region, with sufficient to spare, for one thousand stamps,
driven by steam. Their entire expenditure in the purchase and
improvement of this property has amounted to $199,000, which large
sum is generally considered to have been an excellent investment,
present earnings paying good interest on that amount — ^while with an
increase of working capacity the net product of the mine could be
materially enhanced.
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MINES AND urnma. 585
Similar beds» or ore channels^ filled with these gossans, have been
fonnd elsewhere in the State ; one of which, known as the Banker, or
Harpending claim, located near Lincoln, Placer county, was, for a por-
tion of the year 1866, successfollj worked with a five-stamp mill.
At this point, in a small round hill, rising about one hundred feet
above the adjacent plain is imbedded the metalliferous mass, about two
hundred feet wide, and five hundred feet long. Here, mixed with the
decomposed quartz and pyrites, is a talcose rock — ^nearly the entire body
of which exhibits small quantities of free gold, when washed. This
mine has been opened and worked like a quarry, the whole of the ma«
terial being crusl^ed without much selection. Owing to the facility with
which it can be removed and pulverized, the cost of mining and milling
is small — ^from five to six tons being run through, to each stamp, every
twenty-four hours. A number of capitalists, purchased a controlling
interest in this mine in 1866, and erected a forty-stamp mill, which has
since been running, at intervals^ on these ochreous gossans with fair
results.
AUBIFEBOUS CEMENT AND GBAYEL BEDS.
A brief allusion to this class of deposits will close our description
of the various branches of gold mining in California. Concerning
the origin and extent of these beds, their position and modes of
exploitation, so much has already been said that it only remains to
notice one or two of what may be considered leading claims^ with a
view to a more full elucidation of their permanence and productive-
ness; to which end, what is known as the Blue Gravel Claim, at Smarts-
ville, may be taken as an example of the difficulties to be encoimtered
in opening these grounds, as well as of the liberal rewards that often
attend the successful issue of such undertakings.
Work upon this claim, involving the necessity of constructing a
long and costly drain tunnel, was commenced in 1863, the capital of
the parties undertaking it consisting chiefly of their own labor.
During the first nine years there was washed out $315,489, all of which,
with a further sum of $7,543, standing against the company as indebt-
edness, was absorbed by current expenses. In March, 1864, the main
tunnel having been completed, the claim began to yield enormously,
having turned out, during the following forty-three months, $837,409,
of which $625,543 were net earnings ; $564500 having been divided
among the owners as profits, and $61,043 meantime expended for
improvements. The average monthly outlay during this period, for
labor, material, and all other causes of expenditure, except such as
should properly go to accoxmt of capital, was less than $5,000.
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586 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA,
The eyeimess with which the gravel here has paid indicates that the
gold is distributed throughout it with great uniformity; arguing that this
claim will continue to pay equally well for many years to come, there
being a yast amount of auriferous earth and gravel yet to be washed.
The quantity disposed of to obtain the foregoing results approximates
1,600,000 cubic yards ; the yield of the upper portion, or white cement,
constituting less than one-third of the entire mass, having been at the
rate of $0 50.67 per cubic yard, and that of the lower stratum, or blue
gravel, at the rate of $0 84.66 per cubic yard. The sums paid for
water during these forty-three months, amounted to $57,261, being at
the rate of fifteen cents per miner's inch.
The American Hydraulic Company realize from their gravel claim
at Sebastopol, Nevada county, an annual net revenue of $65,000; and
although the cost of opening their claim has been small compared with
that incurred by the Blue Gravel Company, they have a valuable prop-
erty, owning sufficient ground to keep their sluice profitably employed
for a long time to come. It is estimated that the gold washed from a
group of hydraulic claims situated at Quaker Hill, You Bet, and other
small mining camps in the vicinity, has since their first opening
amounted to over $15,000,000. The Oranite Company, washing by
hydraulic pressure at Birchville, Nevada county, averaged a gross yield
during the past winter and spring of $150 per day; the Kennebec Com-
pany, at the same place, $250 ; and the Buckeye, -$500. At French
Corral, near by, Eddy & Co., took out $30,000 in a run of one month;
while the Dockum Company, operating at the same place, have cleared
$33,000 within the past two years. These are not cited as extreme
cases, but as instancing about what are the average results obtained
from the better class of claims in that section when they are once
opened, and of which there are a large nimiber in Nevada counly.
OPENINGS FOR ENTERPRISE, LABOR AND CAPITAL.
From the foregoing facts and well verified statements the following
conclusions seem fairly deducible: that the chances for making money
in the mines of California are, to the industrious, frugal and patient,
nearly as good now, everything considered, as they were fifteen or six-
teen years ago; that the inducements for immigration, more especially
for mechanics, common laborers, and others desirous of hiring out
their services, are great — ^the scale of wages ranging from sixty to
ninety per cent, higher than in the Eastern States, and more than a
hundred per cent, higher than in the best paid labor markets of
Europe — ^and, finally, that the opportunites presented for the safe and
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HIKES AND MINING. 587
profitable investment of capital are vastly better in the mining regions
of this State than can be found in any other country in the world.
We have already sufficiently indicated the best modes of procedure,
and the most eligible fields for such as desire to engage in mining on
their own account. To such as prefer hiring out their labor, it may be
said, that good hands are always in demand in the mines at about the
following rate of wages, the prices paid varying somewhat with the
kiad of work to be done and slightly also with localiiy, there being a
tendency to higher rates the further we go north : For those engaged
in underground and otherwise extra laborious, disagreeable or danger-
ous work, $3 to $3.60, and sometimes as high as $3.76 per day, or
from $76 to $80 per month; for ordinary work, $2.76 to $3 per day,
and from $60 to $76 per month, the miner in all cases boarding and
lodging himself which will cost at the rate of about $26 per month, or
a little less, if he board himself, as many of this class do, owning their
own cabins and often a sufficient plat of ground around them to raise
all the fruit and vegetables they may require. In working by the day
no time need be lost in the summer by reason of bad weather, nor is
the per centage large at other seasons except in districts so elevated
that placer operations are interrupted by the frost and snow. In few
other countries is the time necessarily lost from this cause so small as
in California. The advantages of the climate, the beauty and health-
fulness of the country, and the great excellence and abundance of
everything essential to subsistance having been amply expatiated upon
elsewhere in this volume, will not be further noticed in this place.
So also of questions relating to the investment of capital, so much
has already been said that it only remains to be observed that every
year's and every month's experience tends only to confirm the opinions
expressed everywhere in this work, to the eflfect that the gold mines of
California present incomparably better openings for the safe and pro-
fitable expenditure of money than any other field of investment to be
found. No active pursuit promises anything like the returns, while
none can be more free from fluctuations and contingencies than this
species of mining properly conducted in this State, at the present day.
The most numerous examples of rapidly accumulated fortunes are found
among the miners ; the largest revenues are enjoyed by this class, and
in them is vested the ownership of the most valuable non-productive
properties in the State ; many of their number being already rich, and
not caring to develop the same — satisfied that their constantly increas-
ing value will render the sums expended in their purchase and partial
improvement a safe and remxmerative investmeni
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688 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
Wliile gold is the principal metal now mined and by far the most
yaluable in the State, California contains a great yariety of other kinds
as well as of the useful minerals — ^the latter often in great abundance.
ThuS) we find here, silver, coal, iron, copper, quicksilver, borax, sul-
phur, salt, manganese, tin, and many other varieties of the metals and
minerals of most economic use or greatest value in commerce.
SILVER.
The various argentiferous ores abound in this State to an extent
that, in the absence of a more precious metal, would distinguish it as a
silver producing country. Already, the business of mining for this
metal constitutes almost the sole pursuit of the inhabitants of three
counties in the State, while, as is well known,' valuable lodes of argen*
tiferous ores exist in many other counties ; the principal deposits, so
far as explorations extend, being in Calaveras, El Dorado and Shasta,
and upon the Island of Santa Catalina, where it occurs very abund-
antly as an ai^entiferous galena. There are now twenty-two mills and
reduction works, several of them of large capacity, employed in work-
ing silver ores in this State ; and it may fairly be presumed that with
so great an extent of valuable mines, and so large a population engaged
in the business, that the product of this metal will be very consider-
able in the course of a few years, when existing difficulties in the treat-
ment of these ores shall have been more fully overcome.
OP COAIi, COPPEB, BORAX, SALT AND SULPHUR.
So much has been said elsewhere in this book that their further
consideration may be dismissed with the simple remark, that they are
all growing in importance with the introduction of new branches of
manufacture calling for supplies of these several articles, and with the
general advancement of the trade and varied industries of the country,
every year adding to the amount of their production and commercial
value.
IRON ORES.
The large and rapidly increasing consumption of iron in this State,
together with the prospective requirements growing out of the con-
struction of railroads and the present high prices of this material, ren-
der the question of home supply one of vital import Deposits of
ferruginous ores are known to exist in different parts of the State, but
not generally under circumstances that would render their reduction
profitable, or even practicable. Thus, there are numerous extensive
beds in the Coast Bange mountains, with others of less extent in the
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KINE8 AND MINIKa. 689
Ticinity of San Francisco; but the absence of fael, and often of sufficient
water for smelting works^ renders them of little or no value.
There is, however, a heavy accumulation of excellent ores at Gold
Valley, Sierra county, situated under circumstances extremely favor-
able to large and cheap reduction, there being in the immediate vicinity
an abundance of the finest timber and a sufficiency of water for all
necessary purposes. These deposits, which are located about twelve
miles east of Downieville, in the neighborhood of the celebrated Sierra
Buttes Oold Mine, are owned by the San Saba Iron Mining Company,
incorporated with a view to prosecuting the work of their practical
development
The ores at this point occur in a belt of metamorphic rock, being
scattered over an area four miles wide and ten or twelve miles in length.
They are of the magnetic varieiy, identical with that from which the
best Swedish and Bussian iron is made, and exist here under three
different conditions: First, as an unmixed magnetic ore, so fine grained
as to resemble the best of steel, and so pure that a large proportion of
it will yield from sixty to sixty-five per cent, of metal. Then, there are
masses of this magnetic ore mixed with carbonate of lime, while again
it occurs associated with talcose slate, through which are diffased innu-
merable crystals of iron, the impurities in this case being of a kind not
likely to interfere injuriously with the smelting process, while the car-
bonate of lime is present in about the proper quantity to supply the
necessary flux. These two classes carry about fiffy per cent, of the
pure metaL
The deposits at this place furnish a notable instance of iron ores
marked by an entire absence of arsenic, sulphur, phosphorous, and
such other substances as tend to deteriorate the quality of the metal.
The aggregate quantity of ore upon the tract owned by this company
is immense; the outcrop of the ore chutes being from fifty to two hun-
dred and fifty feet long, from twenty to two hundred feet wide, and pro-
jecting from twenty to fifty feet above the surface — it being estimated
that a million and a half tons of first class ore can be removed from the
surface deposits, worked as an open quarry.
The value of these mines is greatly enhanced by the facilities that
exist for the reduction of their ores> being in the midst of heavy for-
ests of pine and spruce, insuring cheap and unfailing supplies of char-
coal for smelting, fuel for generating steam for motive power, and lum-
ber for building; while a number of small streams near by can be made
to afford all the water necessary for the reduction works, and, during a
portion of the year also, for the propulsion of machinery.
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690 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA,
As regards a market for their product, these mines are favorably
situated, beiug in and adjacent to extensive mining districts^ wherein
the consumption of iron, already large, will hereafter become greatly
increased, while the price of the imported article must always remain
high. Meantime, the facilities for transporting this product to points
where required will be all the while increasing, as new wagon roads con-
tinue to be built throughout the country, while the construction of the
projected Feather Biver railroad will afford additional advantages in
this respect — ^the line of this road, by the route contemplated, running
within a short distance of this company's property.
Witli such valuable deposits of ore, so favorably situated for cheap
reduction — with very considerable markets at present, and such a large
prospective demand — it is highly probable that the erection of smelting
works, already projected by this company, will be consummated, and
the business of manufacturing pig iron be entered upon at an early day.
Tliat, if once inaugurated, this enterprise will prove alike advantageous
to the proprietors, and beneficial to the country, can scarcely be ques-
tioned.
QUICKSILVEB.
While deposits of cinnabar occur at many points in California^ the
only mines yet developed to a productive condition consist of the New
Almaden, the New Idria, the Bedington, Guadalupe, and the San Juan
Bautista — the first the earliest opened, and by far the most prolific
mine in the State.
The work of opening and improving this mine, begun in 1846, was
prosecuted during the following four years with considerable energy,
having been attended with an expenditure of $978,114, and resulted in
the accomplishment of considerable exploratory labor, in the erection
of furnaces, and the extraction of metal to the value of $535,540 — being
$442,572 less than the amount expended.
The landed estate of this company consists of 7,800 acres. Many
parts of this tract are traversed by veins of cinnabar, some of them
traceable for long distances — vindicating extensive deposits of this ore.
The population employed in, or dependent on the mine, amounts to
about 2,000 ; the company having at present 700 men on their pay
roll, though at times the number is much larger. The capital stock of
this company consists of 100,000 shares, of $100 each. The mine is
understood to be in a prosperous condition, with an extremely prom-
ising future before it, the reserves of ore in sight being large.
The total product of the New Almaden mine, and the average per-
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MINES AND MININO.
691
oentage of metal yielded by the ore, during the last seventeen and a
half years, are exhibited by the following table :
Daiu.
OXB CkmiDlfBD.
Pounds.
PXB.
TXiABKfl.
POUIUM.
July, 1850, to June, 1851
4,970,717
4,634,290
4,839,520
7,488,000
9,109,300
10,355,200
10,299,900
10,997,170
3,873,085
35.89
32.17
27,94
26,49
26,23
20,34
18.93
20.05
30.05
23,875
19,921
18,035
26,325
31,860
28,183
26,002
29,347
10,588
1,826,437
l,5^J3,l)56
l,y79,CT7
2,013.862
2,4^7,290
2,155,999
l,U8Da53
1,245,045
Hoy,9ea
July, 1851, to June, 1852
July, 1852, to June, 1853
July, 1853, to June, 1854
July, 1854, to June, 1855
July, 1855, to June, 1856
July, 1856, to June, 1857
July, 1857, to June, 1858
July, 1858, to October, 1858
November, 1858, to January, 1861*. . .
February, 1861, to January, 1862
February, 1862, to January, 1863
February, 1863, to August^ 1863
November, 1863, to December, 1864.. .
January, 1865, ♦o December, 1865
January, 1866, to December, 1866
January, 1867, to December, 1867t. . . .
13,323,200
15,218,400
7,162,660
25,646,100
31,948,400
26,885,300
26,023,933
18.21
19.27
18.11
16.40
12.43
11.62
7.05
34,765
40,391
19,564
46,216
47,194
35,150
24,461
2,659,522
3,089,011
1,496,046
3,&:^s524
3, fn 0,341
2,G8HJ/75
l,K7]/2(ifi
Totals
461,887
35,333,586
The New Idria Mine, now worked with good judgment and econo-
my, is giving a monthly product varying from six to eight hundred
flasks — ^having turned out in the year 1866, 6,045 flasks, and in 1867,
11,500 flasks. The Eedington Mine, for these respective years, yielded
2,980 and 7,145 flasks. Under a vigorous administration, the very
extensive and high grade ores of this company are being developed
with a skill and energy that promises large additions to its annual
product The yield of the Guadalupe Mine was 1,654 flasks for the
year 1866, and 1,200 for 1867; the total product of the San Juan Bau-
tista Mine having been 80 flasks for the month of December, 1867.
The principal markets for the surplus quicksilver product of Cali-
fornia are found in China, Mexico and South America, the consumption
in this State, and adjoining States and Territories being large. The
product of the State for 1867, as above set forth, aggregates 44^386
flasks, of which 28,853 were exported, leaving for account of home con-
sumption 15,533 flasks. Of this, China and Mexico, each, took 10,000,
and South America 3,800 flasks, the balance being sent to different
parts of the world. The disturbed condition of the countries, usually
constituting our principal customers by diminished requirements in
those quarters, has (or a year or two past depressed prices, and to some
extent restricted production.
* Mine closed by injimctioii.
t Ore on hand equivalent to 5,000 flasks.
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592 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBKIA.
MINERALOGY.
The mineralogy of California presents some peculiarities that are
worthy of note. Of the known mineral species, which now number
about seven hundred, but little more than one hundred have been hith-
erto recognized on this coast The paucity of silicates, and the absence
of the " zeolites," elsewhere so common in the volcanic rocks, are very
marked features. Fluorspar and barytes^ which enter so abundantly
into the composition of the vein stones of other mining countries,
are of exceedingly rare occurrence, though the former is found, as will
be seen by reference to the subjoined list, associated with the copper
ores of Monte Diablo, and the latter is known to occur.
While the State of California is pre-eminent as containing within
its borders a great variety of valuable ores, yet some, elsewhere com-
mon, do not exist here in sufficient quantity to be of economic value.
For example, no considerable deposits of lead and zinc have as yet
been discovered, except perhaps the galena occuring in uncertain quan-
tity on the Island of Santa Catalina. In the Castle Dome district, on
the Colorado river, in Arizona, there is reason to believe that valuable,
and perhaps permanent mines, of a highly argentiferous galena exist
The Santa Catalina ores contain but a small amount of silver.
The similarity of our mineralogy to that of Chili has been noted,
and adduced as proof of the unity of the Cordilleras of North and South
America.
The following is a list of the principal mineral species hitherto
recognized in the States of California and Nevada, and the adjoining
territories, together with some of the localities at which they occur:
AJabada — Los Angelee oonnty.
AndalusUe — Li the drift of the Chowchilla riTer. In slates near Hormtos^ Maziposa oonnty.
Antvmony Ochre — San Emidio mountain. (W. P. Blake.)
Araenie — AJisal mine, near San Carlos Mission, Monterey connty.
Anmioal Antkntmy — Ophir mine, Virginia City, Neyada.
AraenoUU — ^Armagosa mine, Great Basin. Ophir Mine, Hcrada. (Genth.)
AmrUe — Common among the snrface ores of copper.
Sarytes—Bsxe in California, but occurs in large granular masses at Quail Hfll, Calaveras
county.
BiciUe — ^In vicinity of Grass YaUey, Nevada Couniy.
Bitumen — ^Abundant in the southern coast counties.
Blende — ^With galena, in the auriferous quartz veins of the State. Ko massive deposits have
as yet been found in California.
JSorouB— Abundant in the waters of Borax Lake^ Lake county, and in the mud beneath—
frequently in crystals three inches across.
Boumonite— Said to occur in the ore of the Sheba mine, Nevada.
C^oJctte-— Localities numerous.
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KIKES AND IdNING. 593
Can<feHto— (Binoxide of Tin)— Temescal Bimge, about sixty milefl from Los Angeles. Idaho
Territory, on Jordan creek. State of Dnrango, Hezioo.
C^nuiit — Chreat Basin, near Mohare riTer, and incmsting galena from the mines of the CasUa
Dome district* Arizona.
CftatoopCrae— (Telloir Solphnret of Copper)— Occurs in Tarioos parts of the State j but in
Tery large masses in Galareras and Plumas counties.
ChryioeoQa — (Silicate of Copper) — Copper mines of Arizona.
Chry9oiUe— Between the Pittsburgh and Pioneer QuioksilTer claiin% northwest of Mount St.
Helena.
CAiyMlUe— Various locaHties.
Chromic .&t>r»— Monterey county, near San Benito rirer. Near the New Idria QuioksilTeT
mine. Alameda county, near San Antonio.
Cbmo^or— Occurs abundantly throughout the Coast Banges^ and sparingly in the Sierra
Kevada.
Coo^-At Monte Diablo» Corral HoUow, and Tarious localities in the State. At the former
locality are the only beds known to be Taluable. Lignite is found in various parts of
the State.
CcbaU .Bloom— {Erythrine)— Near San Luis Obispo, and elsewhere in the State.
Coccinae— (Iodide of Mercury)— Santa Barbara county. (O. E. Moore.)
Conmdmn—lji the drift of the San Frandsquito Pass. (Baron Bichthofen.)
Copper— (Native)— At various localities in the State. From Copper river, Alaska, masses
similar to those of the Lake Superior mines have been brought.
Copper (7tonce— (Vitreous Copper) — Occurs abundantly in Arizona, where St is usually argen-
tiferous. Specimens from Plumas oounty, California, are said to contain as much as
$200 in silver to the ton.
Diamond— At several localities in CaHfomia. Idaho^ on the Owyhee river.
DioOo^ito— (Cari)onate of Manganese) occurs abundantly in the silver-bearing veins about
Austin, Nevada. (W. P. Blake.)
Dohmiie — ^In Amador county, in narrow, snow-white veins, traversing chloritio rooks^ and
bearing coarse, free gold. (W.P.Blake.) It is also associated with quarts
£tn6oU(e— Lander county, Nevada?
JSmerald JTtcAarf— With chromic iron, Monterey oounty? Near San Lids Obispo*
JEhifresetta— (Variegated copper)— Siegel lode, Plumas county.
Feicbpar-'ln various species common throughout the State.
Jitiorspor— Sparingly, in small white cubes, with copper ore, at Monte Diablo. (W. P. Blake.)
Occurs abundantly with galena and Idende in the lead mines of Castle Dome district^
Arizona.
OaUna — Occurs in most of the auriferous quartz veins of Califoniia ; also at various points
in the Coast Banges. On Santa CataUna Island. Abundantly in the veins of Castle
Dome district, Arizona.
(7ame(— ^Various localities.
Gay Lussite— In. a small salt lake, near Bagtown, Nevada. (B. Silliman.)
6V8u&eH<0— Found in the mud beneath Borax Lake ; only locality in which it has been hith-
erto recognized in North America. (B. Silliman.)
Md—In rocks later than the Palieozoic, throughout the State, but more particulariy in the
metamorphic belt of Tiiassic and Jurassic rocks on the western flank of the Sierra.
Nests and bunches of octahedra, with beautifully brilliant &ces, have been taken from
the Princeton mine, Mariposa estate. In £1 Dorado county, at Spanish Dry Diggings,
a mass of gold, made up of irregular dendritic crystallizations, and weighing sixteen
pounds was found. Crystalline gold has been found in many of the hydraulic wash-
ings in the State. It occurs curiously associated with cinnabar aiyl bitumen in Colusa
county.
€Md and TeOuHtmi— See Tdhirium.
Cfraphite—^niekA Plumbago Company's mine, near Sonora^ Tuolumne county ; and else*
where in Califomia.
38
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.594 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF OAUFOBNIA.
.GS^ptfwwi^VarioTis localities. '«
Hayesine—Occuis in globular masses, in layers alternating with those of salt, in Oolmnbia
Mining district, Esmeralda county. (B. H. Stretch.)
HemalUe — Abundant in California ; perhaps the most important locality is north of Aubom,
Placer county.
HessUe — In the gold drift, El Dorado county. (W. P. Blake.) In the Beist mine, on the
great quartz lode, at Whisky Hill, Tuolumne county.
EoffMende — ^Throughout the State. The variety "asbestos," at many looaliiies. Moun-
tain cork, in Tuolumne county ; and tremolite in limestone in the same county.
jE^tf0— With semi-opal, about thirty miles south of Monte Diablo. (W. P. Blake.)
Bf/dromagnesUe — In the vicinity of the New Idria mines. (J. D. Whitney.)
Idocrase — Siegel lode, El Dorado county?
llmenite — ^El Dorado county, near Georgetown, from gold washings. (W. P. Blake.)
Iridosmine — ^With platinum and gold, in the beach sands of the northern counties. Found
also as a residue in melting large lots of gold dust.
KerargyrUe — Localities numerous, particularly in the decomposed surface ores of the silver
mines of Nevada^ Idaho and Arizona. In California, in the mines of the Slate Bange
district,
JAmonUe — Common in California. In Oregon, near Portland, occurs in an extensive bed.
MagnesUe—OccxoB massive at various localities in the Coast Banges. Associated with the
quartz of the veins of CaUfomia.
IBiffnelUe— At various locaUties in the State. In extensive beds, massive, and of superior
quality, in Sierra county.
MaktchUe—iOreen Carbonate of Copper)— Abundantly in surface ores of the copper mines of
the State.
Mariposite^X provisional name for a supi)osed new species, attached by Prof. B. Silliman to
the light apple-green colored mineral, ooouxring with dolomite and quartz in the Vefa
Madre of Califomia.
MaaroasUe — ^Localities numerous.
MarmoliU — In the vicinity of the New Idria Quicksilver mines. (J. D. Whitney.)
Jfcrcury— (Native)— In the "Pioneer daim," northwest of Mount St. Helena, between Pine
Mountain and Mount Cobb. It occurs frequently in globules in the silidous limestone^
and sometimes in geodic cavities, in considerable quantities.
Mispickd — Commonly associated with gold in the auriferous quartz veins of California.
Natron — (Carbonate of Soda) — Various localities.
Pe(ro^n^— Abundantly distributed throughout the coast counties, from San Diego to Cres-
cent City.
Ptotinum— With iridium and iridosmine, on the coast at Cape Blanco, Southern Oregon.
Analysis of a sample of the mixed metals from Port Orford, in 1854, gave forty-three
and fifty-four, and one hundred per cent, of platinum. (W. P. Blake.)
P**ouaiife— (Light Bed Silver Ore) — ^In the veins about Austin, Lander county, Nevada. At
the Daney Mine, and sometimes in the ores of the Comstock Lode, Nevada.
FyrargifrUe-'(Ruhy Silver)— In the silver mines of Nevada. It is particularly abundant in
the mines about Austin, Lander county, Nevada.
Fyriiea — Common throughout the State.
FyrolusUe—X very pure ore of Binoxide of Manganese occurs in considerable quantity on
** Bed Bock, " in the Bay of San Francisco.
P^romorpAife— Occurs frequently in the auriferous quartz veins of the State that are marked
by the presence of galena, as for instance, in the Primrose Mine, Sierra county.
PyrophyUUe—Occnn in the gold region ; locality not known. (W. F. Blake.)
PyrrhoUne — In Califomia ; precise locality unknown.
Quarts— Fine crystals are obtained in Uie mines of Califomia and Nevada. The vilsreous,
chalcedonic, and jaspery varieties are not uncommon in various parts of the State.
3aU—(Roci£ Salt)— Abundant as an incrustation throughout Califomia. It also occurs in
enormous quantities in the beds of dry lakes in Nevada.
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MINES AND MINING. 696
8as9olin'-(Boncic Add)— Qear Lake, Lake comity. (W. P. Blake.)
ScheeHU—Jii the Mammoth district, Nevada. (Dr. G. T. Jackson.)
Serpentine — ^Abnndant thronghont the State.
SelenUe — In shales of Lone Tree Canon, east side of Monte Diablo range. (J. D. Whitney.)
5i/ver— (Native) — It is of comparatively rare occurrence in Califamift» but fonnd frequently in
the mines of Nevada, Idaho and Arizona.
Silver GUmoe — Abundant in the silver mines of Nevada.
8phmd—In the granite of the Sierra Nevada. (W. P. Blake.)
Stephanite— The crystals have been taken from the mines on the Comstock lode, Nevada.
StibnUe — ^In large masses near the San Emidio Gafton, also in adcolar crystals and granular
masses at the Lake quicksilver mine.
Siromeyerite — Heintzleman mine, Arizona.
Svlpfnar^ — In large deposits at foot of Clear Lake. In considerable quantity at several local-
ities in Colusa county, and at other points within the State.
TetrahedriU—Occwn in the Veta Madre of California ; abundantly in the Sheba mine, Ne-
vada.
Jtihuium — ^Native, and associated with silver and gold, in some of the auriferous quartz
veins of California. Native tellurium occurs foUated in a mine at Angel's Gamp, Cal-
averas county. It is also associated with silver and gold in a mineral which is prob-
ably to be referred to a new species, containing more silver than gold. (B. SiUiman,
M. D., Dec. 2d, 1867.) It appears that Mr. G. Kustel had previously noted the pecu-
liar composition of this mineral, in a communication to the Mining and Scientific Press,
May 20th, 1866.
Tburmaiine — San Diego county, north side of valley of San Felipe, in feldspathio veins.
Tungstate of Manganese— Mammoth District, Nevada. (Proo. Gal. Acad., HI, p. 199, C. T.
Jackson.)
WtdfenUe — (Molybdate of Lead)— Found in small yellow crystals in the upper part of the
California Mine, Comstock lode, Nevada. (W. P. Blake.)
Ztroorv— Occurs with garnets in mica slates of Monte Diablo. (Geology of GaL; vol. I, p. 22;
J. D. "Whitney.)
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CHAPTER XL
MANUFACTUBING INDUSTBIES.
Introdactory BemarkB. Woolen Mills : The Pioneer MillB^-Mission Mills— Pacific Ifills—
Marjiville Mills. Cotton Mapnfactgres — Flouring Mills — Sugar Befineries. Ironworks:
The Pacific BoUing Mills — ^Union Iron Works — Miners' Foundry, etc. — ^Boiler Works.
Brass Foundries— Saw Mills and Lumber— Wire and Bope Works— The Pacific Ckndage
Factory— Tanneries— Powder Works — ^Fuse Factory—Paper Mills— Glass Works — ^Mau-
uflEusture of Salt— Soap Factories— Candle Factori^ — Glue Factory — Chemical and Acid
Factories— Matches— Oil Works— Bice Mills— Idme and Cement— Lead Works— MaiUe
Works and Quarries — ^Potteries — Boots and Shoes — Saddlery and Harness— Wagons,
Carriages, Cars, Agricultural Implements, etc. — ^Furniture — ^Matting— Pianos, Organs^
Bilbard Tables — ^Breweries and Distilleries — Brooms, and Broom Com — ^Wood and Wil-
loir Ware— California Type Foundry — Cigar Manufactories— Manufacture of Clothing
fihirta, etc— Furs— Meat Packing and Curing— Dried and Preserved Fruits and Vege-
tables, etc.— Miscellaneous Manufactures— Works Projected or in Progress.
The State of California possesses such marked and manifold advan-
tages, aside from its geographical position, as to insure the rapid build-
ing up of large manufacturing interests within its limits. Foremost
among these advantages is the vast and widely diffused water-power
found in all the hill and moimtain districts throughout the northern
and eastern sections of the State. Extending along the western water-
shed of the Sierra^ and following the lateral range that, near its north-
em end, sets off toward the coast, is a belt of country five himdred
miles long and seventy-five miles wide, crossed by more than twenty
large rivers, many of them formed from several forks — each, for a good
portion of the year, a fair sized stream. Besides these rivers, there
are many creeks flowing in like manner across this belt, and which,
though not perennial, carry heavy bodies of water for at least one half
the year. All these rivers have their sources about the summits of
the lofly Sierra or its outlying ranges, whence they descend rapidly
towards the great interior plains, a portion of them flowing directly
into the sea ; many of them making a fall of more than six thousand
feet in flowing a distance of seventy or eighty miles. The amount of
propulsive power that may be generated by an entire and economical
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KANUTACTUBEa 697
appropriation of these waters would, to one nnacqnainted with their
Yolume and the favorable condition under which thej exist, seem
incredible. To state it as being equal to the force exerted by five hun-
dred thousand horses would be to keep well within bounds. Already
nearly two hundred quartz mills, over fifty flour, and one hundred and
fifty saw mills, are driven by such inconsiderable portions thereof as
have been diverted for this purpose. If all the water power existing
in the New England States were added to that of New York, New Jer-
sey, and Delaware, it would scarcely exceed that still running to waste
down the side of the Sierra.
The generally open character of the country, the deep alluvial soil
and its freedom from stones, and the facility with which lumber can
be obtained for fluming, render the construction of ditches a matter
of comparative ease throughout this region. Already a costly and wide
extended system of aqueducts is to be found in the mining canals that
ramify nearly all parts of it, supplying water to many of the quartz
mills, as well as to hydraulic, sluice, and other modes of earth wash-
ing. This water, after having been used for the latter purposes, could,
in many cases, be made subservient to the propulsion of machinery ;
and it wiU doubtless happen hereafter that as the auriferous earth
becomes exhausted in different localities, the water once used for
washing will be afterwards availed of for milling and manufacturing
purposes.
Locating manuf actories» foundries, and machine shops in this well
watered district, will be but to bring them to the door of the consumer;
since, in the mining communities to be planted here in the future will
be found the best customers of these industrial institutions, which will
thus be saved the expense attendant on the carriage of their wares to
distant markets. These streams run directly across the principal min-
eral belt of the State ; a coimtry rich in every species of agricultural,
as well as mineral and other kinds of natural wealth — wherefore, it is
obvious, that all these several interests must be blended, growing up
in harmony, mutually depending upon and aiding each other.
In case it should be found expedient, however, to locate these estab-
lishments further down wh#re the fall is insufficient to create a water
power, then the magnificent forests on the mountains above will afford
an unfailing fuel supply — ^the construction of short railroads, only,
being necessaiy to insure the delivery of lumber and firewood at the
points where needed in endless quantities, and at very low prices. It
is, furthermore, worthy of remark in this connection, that many kinds
of stone suitable for the foundation works, and where required for the
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598 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBNIA.
gnperstmcttire abo of buildings, abound in abnost every part of this
region, and generally under very favorable circumstances for quarrying
and removaL While in the coast and other mountain ranges of the
State the water power, as well as the wood and lumber supply, is much
more restricted than in the region just considered, there is still a
sufficiency of both in many places to enable the business of manu-
facturing to be carried on to a considerable extent, some of these
streams having already been appropriated for driving machinery.
In the larger towns, more especially in San Francisco and its sub-
urbs^ destined, from the advantages of its position, to become a point at
which more manufacturing will probably be concentrated than at any
other on the coast, coal can be obtained at rates that will render the
cheap generation of driving power, through the agency of steam, always
practicable. Or what is still more probable, petroleum, now promising
to be brought into use so successfully as a steam fuel, will come to be
extensively introduced in these localities. Should the result anticipated
from the experiments now being made with this fuel be ultimately real-
ized, the coast region of Galifomia will be rendered quite independent
of other sources of fuel supply — the deposits of this substance being
widely diffused, easily obtained, and wholly inexhaustible. In addition
to this immense power already created, and so convenient to hand, or
that can be so cheaply generated, California enjoys in her genial and
Rcilubrious climate another great advantage over most manufacturing
countries. In that part of the State where these multifarious industries
are likely to grow up, it can almost be said that there is no winter.
The heat of the summer in the interior is long continued, and in many
localities for a time oppressive, though never debilitating, owing to the
cool nights that prevail throughout that season. During the remainder
of the year the weather there is for the most part delightful, out door
laborers seldom suffering from either heat or cold. In Galifomia the
mill-wheel is rarely ever pinioned by frost, or the paths that lead to the
workshops and factories obstructed by snow and ice. Neither is the
craftsman eve« forced to go shivering to his task, or to labor in a chiUed
and freezing atmosphere — ^the benignant climate invigorating the sys-
tem and relieving toil of its greatest hardships. Here the shops, and
factories do not require to be kept constantly closed to economise the
lieat within, compelling the operative to labor in a foul, foeted and
debilitating atmosphere, destructive to health and depressing to the
spirits. Except in the more elevated districts, the temperature is such
that even in winter all active employments may be comfortably pursued
in the outer air or with open doors. In this mildness of the climate
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MANOTACTTJBES. 599
the artisan classes will ever find a safeguard against sickness and dis-
comfort^ while it reduces materially the cost of living, in the saying
of fuel, clothing and shelter. The quantity of fuel required for a small
family does not amount to more than half as much in California, take
the year through, as is necessary anywhere throughout the Northern
and Middle States of the Union ; while the cost of clothing, notwithr
standing somewhat higher prices, is considerably less than in the
Eastern States ; the difference in the expense of constructing dwell-
ings being still greater in favor of California. It is estimated by com-
petent judges that at least twenty per cent, more service is rendered
the employer here than in most other countries^ in consequence
of the greater mildness and salubrity of the climate. Food, includ-
ing an abundance of the most delicious fruits, must always be cheap
in this State, while in most country localities the employes of the
workshops and factories can, if so inclined, each be the owner of a
house and lot, the latter of sufiicient size to enable him to raise his
own fruits and vegetables. Land is everywhere cheap, already cleared
for the plough, and generally of good quality, while firewood and lum-
ber must remain at very moderate prices for many years to come, in
the districts designated by nature as the great manufacturing field of
California — especially along that portion of it that covers the western
slope and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.y^Tji the heavy expense
that must always attend the transportation hither of manufactured com-
modities, particularly the more low priced and bulky, from countries of
cheaper production, the California maker of these articles will enjoy a
perpetual tariff which alone will go far towards protecting him against
the superior skill, and cheaper labor and capital, not only of the East-
em domestic, but also of the foreign manufacturer, to say nothing of
the duties imposed by the general Qovemment upon the imported,
wares'of the latter. Again, nearly all the staples that constitute the
raw materials required for manufacturing, are f oimd existing native in
California, or can be raised here with the utmost facility, the soil and
climate being well adapted to the growth of a wide range of such pro-
ductions as are most needed for this purposed/For anything requiring
to be made of wood, metal, wool, leather, of of any of the more com-
mon fibres, except cotton, California has, or can produce the material,
generally of the primest quality, and at scarcely greater cost than the
most favored countries on the globe. Of the substances most essen-
tial in making chemicals, paper, powder, glass, cordage, stone and
earthenware, we have an abundance. The country is prolific in nearly
everything most required for the operations of the forge, the foundry,
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600 !EHE NATURAL WEALTH OV OALIFOBNIA.
the ship-yard, the rope-walk, the carriage^ machine^ and fnmiiareahops;
while the animal, vegetable, and mineral oil% the resins, salts^ pig«
ments^ etc., are of easy obtainmeni We are near to the best fish-*
eries and for producing regions of the world ; have marbles, cements^
and fine earths, rare woods, the precious and the useful metals and
minerals, with plants^ barks and roots of every class and variety.
Some ten or twelve years ago, when the partial exhaustion of the
more superficial placer mines caused an almost universal depreciation
in the prices of property and a general stagnation of business, and
labor seemed so superabundant in California as to excite just appre-
hensions as to its future profitable employment, a number of enterpris-
ing and adventurous citizens, in the hope of supplying with home-made
articles a few of the numerous commodities imported from abroad,
embarked in inanufacturing, mostly with limited means and in a small
way, and thus laid the foundation for those various industries which,
having since obtained a permanent footing and become widely extended,
have saved California from that partial depopulation and business
prostration that was so justly apprehended; and which, but for the
timely inauguration of these industrial enterprises, would no doubt
have overtaken her. To the introduction of this wise policy is the
State, and more especially the city of San Francisco, indebted for the
marked prosperity enjoyed by them during the past eight or ten years;
and in the absence of which it would be difficult to say what might
now have been the condition of our domestic industries, or the financial
status of the State. Millions of dollars have been retained in the coun-
tiy, being used in the payment of wages to our own citizens^ and in
the erection of works and the purchase of articles of home production
that otherwise would have been sent abroad, to be spent in the pur-
chase of these commodities as before. By the introduction on our own
soil of these factories a demand has been created for a long catalogue
of articles and products that otherwise would have lacked a market.
The value of the various articles manufactured in San Francisco,
during the year 1866, is estimated at over $20,000,000 ; the aggr^ate
product of the whole State having been about $30,000,000. By virtue
of her position, California wiU be able to supply such manufactured
goods as Western Mexico, Central America^ China^ Japan, and the
islands of the North Pacific may require, or be able to take of strangers,
paying for the same in cash, or in such native production as they may
have to offer in exchange. In thus supplying these peoples she will find
a vast outlet for the products of her shops and factories, and secure a
trade that cannot fail to prove profitable, since it can hardly admit of a
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XAKUFACTCBEa 601
eompetitor. With snch manifest advantages then growing out of her
position, and the great natural facilities she enjoys for engaging lai*gely
and successfully in the business of manufacturing, it becomes evident \
that California is destined to enter early upon an extensive career in I
this department of industry. Nowhere in the world are the conditions
for building up readily a vast and diversified interest of this kind so
favorable as upon the coast of the North Pacific — ^the extent to which
our people have already embarked in many branches of the business,
evincing a just appreciation of these advantages, and a purpose to turn
them to practical account as rapidly as circumstaiices will warrant In I
some respects it must be admitted that California is placed to disad- /
vantage as a manufacturing country, though these obstacles and draw-
backs are limited in their influences, and will probably prove temporary
in duration. Credits here are short, and interest is high, forcing the
manufacturer to pay dearly for his capital, and often compelling him to
press his wares upon the market in advance of consumptive require-
ment Owing to the narrow extent of back coimtry to be supplied, and
the limited outlets available in other directions, care is required that
manufacturing is not pushed to excess, it being necessary also, while
preventing prices falling below the cost of production, that they be so I
restricted as not to encourage over importation.
For a time, too, the California proprietor found it difficult to com-
mand the highest order of skilled labor; its remoteness, the limited ex-
tent, imcertainiy, and newness of its manufacturing industries deterring
the best class of artisans from leaving profitable and generally permanent
situations, to seek employment in such a distant and precarious field.
With the establishment and growth of these pursuits in California, |
however, the best workmen of the Atlantic States and Europe have ■.
found their way hither in such numbers that it is probable there are j
now here as many of this class, in proportion to the whole number of
operatives^ as in any other country ; the high wages offered bringing
to our shores frequently the choicest artisans to be found in the most
famous establishments of the Old World.
What progress has been made in founding and building up manu-
facturing industries in California will, in part, appear from the follow-
ing brief descriptions of the leading establishments in this line of
business, only a few of the more prominent facts connected with the
Bame being here presented*
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602 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALXFOBKIA.
WOOLEN WOLL&.
In the making of woolen fabrics we have one of the earliest founded,
and now most extensive and prosperous branches of manufacturing yet
established in the State — the steady supply, cheapness and excellence
of the wool grown here giving great encouragement to this line of busi-
ness. The fabrics turned out by our woolen mills are not excelled by
those of any other coimtry. Up to 1859 the entire wool clip of Califor-
nia was shipped abroad for a market. That year, the Pioneer Mills
starting, used a small portion of it — quite a large quantity being now
consumed by the several establishments running in the State. At the
present time there are in Calif omia five of these factories, four of which
are running ; the fifth, located on the Merced river, though completed
and ready for work, not yet being in operation ; it is, however, to be
started during the spring or early in the sunmier of 1868. The erection
of others are contemplated in difierent parts of the State, and there will
no doubt be several additions made to the present number in the course
of a year or two, at furthest Preliminary steps towards the building
of a woolen mill at Santa Cruz, and another at Folsom, have already
been taken, and will no doubt result in their early construction.
THB PIONEBB WOOIiEN lOIiLa
The first works of the kind ever put up in the State were the Pioneer
Woolen Mills, erected in 1858, at Black Point, in the northwestern part
of the City of San Francisco. Though built in 1858, they did not com-
mence work till the following year. The first edifices put up by this
company, though spacious and convenient, being of wood, were unfor-
tunately burned up in the fall of 1861. Notwithstanding the loss of the
proprietors, Messrs. Heyneman, Pick & Co., was heavy, the buildings
being filled with new and costly machinery, selected with great care,
and imported from the East, they at once set about rebuilding the edi-
fice, which was made more spacious than that destroyed, being at the
same time, for greater safeiy, constructed wholly of brick. This mill
is now owned by a company having a capital of $450,000. The machin-
ery consists of eighteen sets of cards, six thousand spindles^ seveniy-
two looms, eight mules and fourteen jacks — the whole put in motion by
a steam engine of one hundred and fifty horse power. Three hundred
and fifty men, a portion of them Chinese, are employed in the various
departments. The product of these mills for the year 1866 was 30,000
pairs of blankets, 60,000 yards of broadcloth, tweed and cassimeres,
and 375,000 yards of flannel; consuming 1,500,000 pounds of fine wool
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MANUFACTURES. 603
In 1867, there were manufactured 40,000 pairs of blankets, 100,000
yards of broadcloth, tweeds and cassimeres, and 300,000 yards of
flannels — 1,600,000 pounds of wool having been consumed. Their
annual capacity is equal to the consumption of 3,000,000 pounds of wooL
Large quantities of flannels are made up into shirts — sixty hands^ oper-
ating with sewing machines, being employed at this business.
Tmi MISSION WOOZiEN HILIia
These mills are also located in the City of San Francisco, being on
the comer of Sixteenth and Folsom streets. They are very extensive,
the buildings pertaining to the establishment occupying, and in good
part covering, an area of ten acres. These works, erected in 1861, have
the greatest capacity of any institution of the kind in the Slate — ma-
terial additions having been made to them recently. Besides the ai*ti-
cles designated as being made at the Pioneer mills, they here manufac-
ture cloakings and traveling shawls. This company have a capital stock
of $500,000, and employ four hundred and fifty hands constantly. The
mill is driven by a steam engine of one hundred and fift^ horse power,
and consumes 2,200,000 pounds of wool annually. In 1866 there were
manufactured at this establishment 80,000 pairs of heavy army and
navy blankets, 125,000 yards of broadcloth, tweed and cassimere, and
600,000 yards of flannel, besides large numbers of shawls, quantities
of cloakings, etc. — the gross value of the products of these mills
amounting to nearly $1,000,000 per annum. The wages paid employes
for 1867 amounted to $135,000. For that year the proprietors report no
increase of business. For the year ending April 30th, 1867, the value
of manufactured goods made by the Pioneer and Mission Woolen MiUs,
as returned to the Internal Bevenue Department, reached the sum of
$816,815. In these returns are not included materials made into gar-
ments, and given in under the head of clothing. To the blankets and
flannels made here was awarded the premium medal, at the Paris Expo-
sition, in 1867, over all competitors from the United States.
THE PACIFIO WOOIiEN lOJJLB,
The Pacific Woolen Mills, located on Folsom street, between Eigh-
teenth and Nineteenth, San Francisco, spin only yams, and manufacture
knit goods from the same — ^this being the only extensive establishment
of the kind on the coast. The main building is 112 by 52 feet, three
and a half stories high, with numerous outhouses and dwellings for
operatives attached. These works were originated by Mr. James Bob-
erts, the capital stock employed $400,000. The works are driven by a
steam engine of one hundred horse power ; consume annually 500^000
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604 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
pounds of wool, all of choice quality, besides 100,000 pounds of cotton
— ^value of goods made, $400,000 per annum ; they are now being
enlarged to a producing capacity of $2,000,000. They employ 24
women, 24 white men, and 42 Chinese, besides from 250 to 300 women
and girls seaming the goods at their houses, who now turn out daily
60 dozen shirts and drawers, and 150 dozen of hosiery. Only medium
and lower grade goods have thus far been produced, the mills running
on short time. "With the additions now being made, it is intended to
manufacture goods of the highest and finest grade in this line, and to
operate the works night and day. The demand for wares of this kind
is rapidly increasing, and it is questionable if the establishment, even
when enlarged, will be able to fully meet the rapidly growing require-
ments of the coast
There was another knitting mill, constructed on a much smaller
scale, situated in the southwestern part of the city. It started work in
August, 1866, and made nearly every variety of goods, but was burned
down the next year. This mill, in addition to the usual carding and
spinning apparatus, was supplied with a number of Aitkin's patent
knitting machines, and produced articles of unsurpassed excellence.
THB MABTSVILIiB WOOIiEN HHiLS.
These mills, situated in the ciiy of Marysville, Yuba county, com*
monced operations in September, 1867. They are of limited capacity,
containing but seven looms, with corresponding apparatus, and make
only blankets and flannels. They are the property of a company
incorporated with a capital of $50,000.
The establishment of even the above limited number of woolen
mills, has already had a highly beneficial effect upon a variety of inter-
ests in this State, besides giving profitable employment to a large
number of operatives and outside laborers, and tending to reduce the
prices of the commodities made to the California consumer ; it has also,
by creating a demand for our home grown wools, protected the sheep
raisers of the State against the monopoly of buyers purchasing here
for foreign markets^ and who, by combining to keep down prices, often
depress them below a paying standard. Since the founding of our
local mills, the prices of wool have not only remained more steady, but
have materially advanced. Of the 8,600,000 pounds marketed in San
Francisco city during the year 1866, our home mills purchased 3, 200, 000
pounds, showing a large and healthful competition, although there were
at that time but two mills in operation. Of the 10,500,000 pounds dis-
posed of in 1867, our local establishments took 3,000,000 — a ratio of
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KANUFACTUBES. 605
increase that it may reasonably be expected will hereafter be every year
enlarged.
COTTON MANUFAOTUREa
The only works in this line on the coast are the mills of the Oak-
land Cotton Mannfactoring Company, situate near Oakland, Alameda
counfy. This company was organized in August, 1865, with a capital
stock of $100,000, and soon after put up a two-story brick building,
90 by 45 feet, with three large brick houses contiguous, for the use of
overseers and workmen. The mill, driven by a forty-horse power
steam engine, employs about thirty hands, and up to January, 1868,
had been confined to making shirtings, sheetings, osnaburgs and drills,
with a species of wool and cotton tweeds. At that time the capital of
the company was increased to $200,000, with a view to procuring
machinery suitable for the manufacturing of grain bags, which, it is
believed, can be made at a profit under the thirty per ceni ad valorem
duty imposed on the foreign article. The importance of making our
own bagging wiU be the more readily appreciated when it is known
that over $1,200,000 are spent annually in the purchase of sacking
for the yearly grain crop of the State — ^being about seven per ceni of
its entire value. At present it will be necessary to import most of the
raw material for this branch of operations ; but there is reason to
believe that in a short time this can be supplied, at least in good part,
by textiles of home growth. Flax is now raised here for the seed
alone, but with a market for the lint, the latter could, and no doubt
would, be furnished in any required quantity ; and though, perhaps,
not of the best quality, yet sufficiently good for this purpose. So, also,
hemp would be grown if this fibre were in large and steady demand at
fair prices. Thus it will be perceived how large a variety of economi-
cal ends would be subserved by the making at home of the sacking
required for our annual grain crop. First, the heavy money drain
requisite for the purchase of these articles abroad would be stopped,
a large additional number of operatives would be given employment^
and the now neglected business of flax and hemp growing, would be
likely to receive an impulse that would render it both permanent and
profitable.
The Oakland Cotton Mills have heretofore run thirty-two looms.
In 1866 they consumed 100,000 pounds of cotton, and in 1867, 125,000
pounds — about 30,000 yards of shirting having been made monthly.
The total product for the year 1866 was 100,000 yards of shirting, and
50,000 yards of brown sheeting — ^the latter mostly for the Mexican
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606 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA.
market, besides large quantities of 44 cotton cloth for flonr sacks.
The raw material for this establishment is obtained mostly from the
Atlantic States, a little also having been procured from Mexico and
other foreign countries. The amount of cotton produced in California
thus far has been limited to a few bales of inferior quality, no special
efforts having been made to grow it imder the low prices lately ruling.
There is but a single establishment for making cotton-wadding in
this country, that of J. C. Mayer & Sons, situated on Turk street, San
Francisco. At this factory every description of wadding and batting is
made, the capacity of the works being 2,000 poimds daily, though
only about 10,000 poimds were worked up in 1866, and 15,000 in 1867.
The cotton used is mostly obtained from Mexico and the Socieiy
Islands.
Some time since a movement was made by certain parties in San
Francisco towards organizing a company to put up a carpet factory in
that ciiy; and, although the project remains in abeyance, there is not
much doubt but that it will be carried to early consummation, as
more than a million dollars worth of these fabrics are imported into
the State every year.
FLOURING MILLa
The annual wheat crop of California, during the past three years, is
estimated as follows, viz: At 11,579,127 bushels for 1865; at 1^000,000
bushels for 1866, and at 15,000,000 bushels for 1867— the prospect
being that the yield for 1868 will considerably exceed that of any of
the three preceding years. For several years prior to 1865 large quan-
tities of breadstuflfe were imported into the State; and eighteen years
ago scarcely any wheat was raised in California^ but comparatively
little having been grown for a number of years thereafter. The flour
exported from the State in 1866 amoimted to 324,353 barrels, valued at
$1,870,000, and in 1867 the number of barrels exported amoimted to
520,000, valued at $3,200,000, while it is thought the wheat crop of
1868 will be much greater than that of 1867, and that our exports of
flour will be correspondingly increased should there be a foreign
demand for it. The extreme dryness of the weather during the sea-
son for the maturing and gathering of the cereal crops, renders Cali-
fornia wheat the hardest and dryest, as it is also generally the plumpest
and brightest grain in the world, the flour made from it being distin-
guished for almost every exceUence.
There were in March, 1868, one^hundred and fi^-seven flouring
mills in the State, ninety of which are driven by water and sixty-seven
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HANUFACTUBES. 607
bj steam. They carry a total of three hundred and forty-six run of
stone, and cost, in the aggregate, about 13,000,000. They have a
capacity to make 15,000 barrels of flour daily, or 3,500,000 barrels
yearly, running full time.
Of these mills, eleven are situated in San Francisco, each of the
larger grain growing counties also containing a number, generally pro-
portioned to their facilities for shipping flour to the San Francisco
market, or the demands of the local trade. Several new mills have
been erected in different parts of the State during the past year, the
largest* of these being at Folsom, Lincoln, and Benicia. Sacramento
city contains three mills, hating a joint capacity 4o make 1,150 barrels
of flour daily, and as they run a good portion of the time, their annual
product is large. Stockton has two mills capable of grinding 740 bar-
rels of flour daily, the quantity turned out annually at these establish-
ments also being considerable.
Of the San Francisco mills, the Golden Gate, the largest in the
city, made in 1866, 90,000 barrels of flour, and in 1867, 100,000 bar-
rels, 90,000 of which were extra, and about 10,000 of lower grades.
The National Mill ground during the year 1867, 39,182 barrels of super-
fine flour, 56,557 barrels being extra, and 1,805 of Graham flour, mak-
ing a total of 97,544 barrels for the year. The Golden Age Mill turned
out during the year 1867, 66,548 barrels of flour, all extra superfine.
The Genesee Mill produced the same year 50,000 barrels, seventy-five
per ceni of which was extra, balance superfine. The Commercial
Mill made 38,000 barrels of flour in 1866, and 40,000 in 1867. The
Capital Mill ground in 1867 what was equivalent to about 35,000 bar-
rels of flour ; the principal articles made consisting of Indian meal,
groats, hominy, and feed stuffs. The other mills in the city, all of
inferior capacity, ground during the same period some fifteen or twenty
thousand barrels of flour ; the total product of all the San Francisco
mills, for 1867, being estimated at a little over 400,000 barrels, worth
on an average 16 60 per barrel.
SUGAB BEFINEBIES.
Although both the soil and climate in many parts of California are
suited to the successful culture of the sugar cane, no efforts at raising
it on an extended scale have yet been made, the great cost of labor
forbidding large production where raw sugars can be obtained at such
low rates from adjacent countries. In some parts of the State, quite
a quantity of syrup and molasses is annually made from the sorghum,
or Chinese sugar cane, but as they are of inferior quality, its pro-
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608 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
dnction is not likely to increase, except, perhaps, at a few points in
the more remote interior, where it will be expensive to procure the
refined article. The cultivation of the sugar beet promises to be
extensively introduced here, measures having been devised looking to
a large planting, and the erection of suitable machinery for its manu-
facture. The bulk of the raw sugars for the use of the three refineries
operating in this State, all being located in San Francisco, are imported
from the Hawaiian Islands, Central America, Manila^ Batavia, and
Peru.
The Befinery of the San Francisco and Pacific Sugar Company,
the earliest founded of these establishments, was incorporated in 1855,
with a capital of $800,000. The buildings are of brick, very substan-
tial, and cover a large area. The motive power of these works con-
sists of a two hundred horse power engine. They are capable of
refining 24,000 barrels of sugar annually, and employ about one hun-
dred and sixty hands. The monthly yield averages 7,000 barrels of
white sugar, 4,000 barrels of crushed, and 50,000 gallons of syrup.
The product of this refinery, for 1866, amounted to $2,008,213 ; in
1867, 16,000,000 pounds of raw sugar were worked up.
The California Sugar Befinery, also an extensive establishment,
incorporated in 1867, situated in the southern part of the city, near
the works of the company last described, has a capacity for using
about one hundred barrels of sugar daily, or 12,000,000 pounds annu-
ally. Here a one hundred horse power engine is employed to drive
the works, about sixty hands being engaged on the premises. By the
introduction of certain improvements here introduced, it is claimed
that the making of crushed or kiln-dried sugar is much cheapened and
facilitated.
The Bay Sugar Befinery, located in the northern part of the city,
has a capacity for making about 50,000 poimds of sugar daily.
Though the consumption of sugar on this coast is enormous com-
pared with the population, these several establishments have a joint
capacity to refine more than double the amount required for home use;
wherefore, with a view to adapting the production to the amount actu-
ally required, they run full time but a portion of the year. The motive
power used in these refineries amounts in the aggregate to two hundred
and thirty-five horse power, the working force employed by them when
in full operation being about two hundred and eighty men. In 1866
they worked up 22,743,312 pounds of raw sugars, which netted 18,203,-
lOi) pounds of the refined article, 570,031 gallons of syrup having been
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1CANU7ACTUBES. 609
made besides. The total amount of raw material refined in 1867 was
16,262,861 pounds^ the value of the manufactured article being $2,895,-
249 in currency. During the same year 416,685 gallons of syrup were
made, as returned to the Internal Bevenue Office, though these returns
failed to indicate the entire production of that year, syrups having
been for a portion of the time exempted. The imports of sugar into
the State, during the years 1866-6-7, were respectively as foUows: For
the first, 29,091,962 pounds, 6,628 barrels, and 24 boxes; for the
second, 39,767,924 pounds, 8,821 barrels, and 31 boxes; and the third
year mentioned, 35,009,603 pounds, 889 barrels, and 49 boxes — ^that
indicated in pounds being foreign, while that coming in barrels and
boxes was of Eastern importation. Our exports for the same period
were for 1865, 276,600 pounds, 6 hogsheads, 2,529 barrels, and 4,768
boxes; for 1866, 480,600 pounds, 10 hogsheads, 3,360 barrels, and
2,662 boxes; and for 1867, 165,437 pounds, 280 hogsheads, 866 barrels,
and 2,449 boxes — ^the quantities eii^ressed in pounds being sent to
foreign, and the balance to domestic ports.
IRON WORKS.
Notwithstanding the consumption of iron has always been large
in this State and the raw material expensive, no smelting works or
forges have yet been erected to extract the metal from the ore, or for its
further preparation for the uses of the foundry and other branches of
the mechanic arts. Yet, as large deposits of the ores of this metal of
excellent quality, and favorably situated for worldng, exist in many parts
of the State, it is reasonable to suppose that works for smelting the
ores and forging the pig metal into blooms will soon be erected. With
the inception of quartz milling in California came also a greater con-
sumption of iron, which, keeping pace with the rapid increase of that
and similar industries, has at length grown into enormous proportions.
The use of cast iron pipes for conducting water through the mines, the
extensive gas and water works in many of our towns, and the employ-
ment of this material extensively in building, not only for ornamental
purposes, but also in making it a part of the superstructure itself,
while it indicates a large present consumption, but faintly foreshadows
that which must inevitably attend the rapid development of our natural
resources that may now certainly be counted upon. Bailroad con-
struction alone must soon force the manufacture of this article into*
existence on a large scale, since it can beyond question be made in^
many of the remote localities of the interior for much less than the
cost of transportation from Eastern marts would alone amount to.
39
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610 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
Heretofore^ all demands for this material Lave been met by direct
importations, or the vast quantities of old iron obtained from discarded
and worn out machinery, the breaking up of condemned vessels and
similar sources^ the amount thus placed at disposal being large. Still,
as stated, the requirements on this side the continent must soon attain
such proportions as will induce the construction of smelting works not
only in California, but also in other of the Pacific States and Terri-
tories— a project elsewhere described in this work having already been
set on foot for the erection of an establishment of this kind on a large
scale.
At the present time, there is no other single branch of manufactur-
ing in Calif omia in which even one half as much labor and capital is
employed as in the several departments of iron working, there being
about forty of these establishments in different parts of this State.
Fifteen of this number are located in San Francisco, while nearly every
considerable town in the interior has one or more. Several of those in
San Francisco, as well as the worlo at Yallejo, Benicia and Sacra-
mento, are large and complete; while those at Stockton, Marysville and
Nevada are of very respectable dimensions.
The value of the castings turned out at the several works in San
Francisco, during the year 1867, amounted to over $2,000,000; the total
number of hands employed being nearly 1,200. Besides supplying
nearly all the machinery required for the quartz mills and reduction
works of this coast, the shops and foundries of California manufacture
much mining machinery for Western Mexico, and aldo sugar mills,
pans, etc., both for that countiy and the Sandwich Islands.
The following remarks and statistics relative to the leading iron
works in San Francisco will convey a general idea of their capacities,
and the amount of work actually performed thereat in the course of
each year :
PAcmo soiiiiiKa mills.
This immense establishment, located at Potrero Point, in the
southern part of the city, commenced in August, 1866, and just now
approaching completion, is the only one of the kind west of the Bocky
Mountains. These works, projected on a liberal plan, are designed to
be first class in all their means and appointments, and as the company,
starting with a capital stock of $2,000,000, possess all the skill, prac-
tical tact and enei^, as well as the capital requisite to success, it is
believed they will be able to compete successfully with both the East-
em and foreign manufacturer. The site of these mills has been well
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KANXJFAOTUBBS. 611
chosen, being in what most shortly become one of the great mannfao^
taring quarters of the city. Gonyenient to deep water, vessels of the
faeayiest tonnage are able to load and discharge at the company's wharf
in close proximity to their works. The building for the rolling gear
covers an area of 150 by 235 feet, the machine shop attached being
80 by 100 feet, with numerous other smaller structures, the whole being
built in a massive and substantial manner, and arranged with special
reference to convenience and expediting operations. These buildings
are now completed, a portion of them having already received their
machinery, which is now in operation. In the rolling mill, one of
the trip hammers, with forge, engine, cranes, and other appendages,
is set up and at work, there being three other of these ponderous
implements still to be put in place. The machinery for the works is
on the ground, and is being adjusted with such rapidity that the whole
will be ready for operations early in the summer of 1868. Already a
number of large shafts and other pieces of heavy machinery have been
forged, the hum of a mighty industry beginning to pervade the whole
establishment. At these works, shafts for the largest ocean going
steamers can be made — a feat not heretofore practicable on this coasi
All the apparatus and appliances are here, of the most perfect and
powerful kind, the imported portions having been constructed to order
or selected with the utmost care, at the best establishments abroad.
The massive steam engine, built at the Pacific Foundry, in San Fran-
cisco, is a model of strength and superior workmanship.
At these mills it is intended to manufacture everything usually
made at similar establishments elsewhere, such as railroad and bar
iron, rods, plates, and sheet iron of all sizes and patterns, together
with every variety of sheet and rod copper, and also of brass. The
company, in addition to their usual line of business^ will engage in
forging Lloyd's patent anchor, a California invention of ingenious con-
struction and great practical value. They will also manufacture plates
for iron ships — ^the policy of providing a yard on their premises for
the construction of this class of vessels being now under advisement
Over a thousand tons of old iron were, in March, 1868, lying on the
company's wharf, having been collected in anticipation of early require-
ments^ and it may fairly be presumed' that now this material, instead
of being regarded as a nuisance and shipped away, as heretofore, with
little profit, will be carefully gathered up and retained in the country,
having, through this new created home market, been converted into
an article of prime necessity. The existence of these mills will also,
it may be supposed, encourage an early effort being made to work some
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€12 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
of {he beds of iron ore in {he State, with a view of supplying {he
demand for this metal, which must hereafter be constant and large. In
its effects upon this interest, as well as upon numerous other domestic
pursuits, the founding of this establishment will be likely to exert
such a benign influence that it may be regarded almost in &e light of
a public benefaction. The powerful works of the Pacific Forge Com-
pany, operating near the Mission Dolores, are to be transferred to this
establishment, to be used in the forging department
XTNION ZBOK WOBKS.
These works, started in 1849, by the Messrs. Donahue Brothers,
with but few conveniences, and on a very contracted scale, now rank
among the largest and most efficient establishments on the coasi As
there were at that early period neither the material nor the facilities
for extended operations in this line of business^ so also there was then
but a limited demand for the same ; what little iron work was required
being mostly imported from abroad. At the start, the foundry blast
was produced by a blacksmith's bellows ; the supply of material was
scanty, and the shop tools few and imperfect These works, so feeble
in their beginnings, keeping pace, however, with the advance of
improvements^ have since undergone enlargement at various times,
being now of immense capacity and extent The number of hands
employed averages about three hundred.
The main building, composed of britk, three stories high, has a
frontage of 187| feet, with a depth of 120 feet ; the area of the prem-
ises covering nearly 60,000 square feet In the machine shop there
ace twenty-five lathes, eight planers — one of them the largest in the
State — together with much powerful drill, cutting, gearing, and shaping
machinery. In the smithery there is a fifteen ton steam hammer for
forging purposes. The boiler department is supplied with a self-feed-
ing punching machine, and also one for performing the operation of
riveting. A laboratory and an amalgamation room provided for the
use of miners desiring to test their ore% free of charge, forms a feature
of these works.
The first piece of casting ever made in California was run here,
and here also the first reverberatory furnace, for forging large shafts,
was constructed. This foundry has, during the past few years, turned
out considerable quantities of rolling stock for railroads, as well as
many marine and locomotive engines, and other heavy pieces of ma-
chinery— ^the facilities for manufacfatring heavy work being great
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HANUFACTUBES. 613
VOUNDBX;
This f onndiy, with machine shops and boiler works aitaohed, all on
a large scale^ employs about one hundred and fifty men. The works^
driven by a sixty horse power steam engine^ are among the most com-
plete and capacious in the State. They are amply supplied with every-
thing requisite for constructing the most massive and complicated
kinds of machinery, the Miners' Foundry enjoying a high reputation
for this particular class of work. For several years past the annual
consumption of pig iron at this establishment has been about 1,800
tons, together with 300 tons of wrought iron, and 700 tons of coaL
VUIiOAN ZBOH WOBX8.
These works give emplo^ent to an average number of about one
hundred and twenty-five men and boys. In 1867 they used 1,200 tons
of pig iron, 200 tons of bar and round, together with 100 tons of boiler
iron, and 25,000 pounds of rivets.
PAOZFIO IBOK WOBK8.
The Pacific Iron Works were erected in 1860, embracing besides a
foundry, machine, forging, smithing and pattern department, also a boiler
and wood work shop, giving more than usual variety to the operations
carried on in this class of establishments. Another feature of these
works consists of a branch devoted to the making of machine tools and
apparatus, such as engine lathes, iron planers, drills, shears, etc. —
implements heretofore mostly imported, always at heavy cost, and loss
through delay, breakage, etc. Many of the tools, as well as machinery
in use at this establishment, some of them complicated and costly, were
made by the proprietors themselves. These works, which are very
capacious, covering in great part four fifty-vara lots, employ a force of
one hundred and twenty-five hands. In 1866 they consumed six hun-
ftred tons of pig, and three hundred and fifty tons of bar and plate
iron, with seven himdred tons of coal, resulting in productions valued
at $275,000. In 1867 the consumption was seven hundred tons of pig
iron, three hundred and fifty of bar and plate, and eight hundred tons
of coal; value of products, $300,000.
Though Messrs. Bankin, Brayton & Austin are now the proprietors
of these works, the business continues to be conducted under the
name of the original firm, '^Goddard & Co."
OOIiDSf 8TATB IBOIT WOBK8.
These works, with f oxmdry connected, use a tweniy-five horse power
steam engine, and employ on an average about fifty men ; consumed
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614 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBNIA.
in 1866, seyen hundred tons of pig iron ; in 1867 consumed nine hxxnr
dred tons of pig iron, and six hundred of coaL
FUIiTOK JBOK UrOBKS.
The Fulton Iron Works, with foundry and machine shop attached,
employ sixly-five men ; consumed in 1866, four hundred and fifteen
tons of pig iron, and in 1867, five hundred and fiffy tons, together with
three hundred and fiffy tons of coaL
PHonnx iBOK womDEk
At this establishment are made all kinds of iron doors, blinds,
safes, vaults^ shutters, etc. ; employ twenty men, and worked up in
1866 two hundred tons of iron ; in 1867, two hxmdred and fifty tons ;
annual value of work done being about $50,000.
JBTHA mOK UrOBKS.
These works are driven by a twenty horse power steam engine and
employ thirty-two men. Consumption of iron in 1867, five hundred
tons pig and fifty tons wrought ; make the casting of stoves and orna-
mental iron work a specialty.
ATLAS WOBKS.
The Atlas Works, confined chiefly to making iron castings of every
description for buildings, keep thirty men steadily employed, and
have a capacity to melt six tons of iron at a casting ; works driven by
a powerful steam engine, and the establishment, which covers a front-
age of 47| by a depth of 175 feet, is supplied with everything requisite
in the way of models and patterns for conducting a large and diversified
business. The iron work, both ornamental and substantial, used upon
many of the largest buildings in San Francisco, was cast at this estab-
lishment
THE JAOKSOH FOXniDBT.
This foundiy is one of the largest of its class in the city, and is
engaged in the manufacture of stoves, ranges, tinware, etc., supply-
ing these articles to wholesale dealers. The bodies of these stoves are
mostly imported, only the fronts and secondary parts, with the furni-
ture, being made here. Grates, garden and school furniture, lamp
posts and similar articles, are also made in large quantities, being
always kept in ample supply to meet the wants of the trade.
The Empire Foundry makes castings for ornamental and other light
worky such as leaves, pillars, caps, agricxdtural implements, gas fix-
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XANUVAOTUBES. 615
taren,- school fnmitare, eta The fotindiy, of moderate size and capa-
city, is supplied with a good steam engine, powerful cranes^ etc.
THB PIOHKBB IBOK WOBKS.
These works, the first in their particnlar department founded on the
coast, manufacture iron doors, shutters, safe yaxdts, etc. ; thej employ
thirteen men; consumed one hundred tons of iron in 1866, and one
hundred and fifty tons in 1867.
Sims' Iron Works make the same description of wares as the Pioneer,
besides wrought iron girders, beams, fencing, etc. ; employ fourteen
men, and consumed in 1867 about one himdred and fifty tons of iron.
Bawrhyte & McAfee's Iron Works, recently erected, employ thirty
men. During the six months, ending with January, 1868, they had
worked up thiriy-five tons of iron, the products of which were yalued
at $20,000.
BOILEB WORKS-SAW AND FILE FACTORY.
The leading boiler shop of San Francisco is that of Coffee & Bis-
don — confined exclusively to boiler making — employing thirty-five men,
and executing over one-third of all the work done in the city.
The Portland Boiler works consumed about two hundred and fifty
tons of boiler, plate, and sheet iron, in 1867, giving a product of
$15,000.
Among the miscellaneous establishments of the city working chiefly
in iron and other metallic substances, is the Pacific Saw Factory,
started in 1866, and which has been of signal advantage to lumbermen
and wood sawyers, by enabling them to have repairs made and their
orders filled readily. At these wbrks everything is manufactured from
the lai^est circular and gang saw to the most delicate blade required
by the scroll cutter or cabinet maker, and invariably of a quality equal
to anything imported.
Adjoining these works are those of N. W. Spaxdding, where patent
saw-teeth are made, and kept ready to supply the place of those worn
out or broken.
The Pacific File Factory, started in 1866, employs ten men, and
produced, in 1867, wares to the value of $10,000. Besides files of
every description, and of a quality equal to any known to the trade,
sections for reapers and mowers are made here, also pronounced very
superior, it being the purpose of the proprietors to soon supply the
entire local demand for these articles.
Besides the establishments above briefly described, there are many
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616 THE KATCKAL WUUTB OF GALIFOBNIA*
smaller iron works in the city, apart from the smitheries and smaller
machine shops, which, though not of sufficient importance to justify a
detailed notice in this place, turn out a considerable amount of prod-
ucts yearly, giving employment to a large aggregate number of work-
men.
BRASS FOUNDBEBa
Of these works there is a large number in different parts of the
State, the greater portion being located, however, in the city of San
Francisco. In 1866 more than one half of the requirements of the coast
were supplied by the products of these home foundries, which are able
to fill satisfactorily nearly every variety of order in their line.
The aggregate quantity of brass worked up in the State, outside of
San Francisco, is about 65,000 pounds annually ; the quantity of cop-
per used being valued at about $30,000. The largest amount of these
metals is consumed at the works of the Pacific Mail Steamship Com-
pany, Benicia, and at the Navy Yard on Mare Island.
The principal brass foundry in San Francisco is that of W. T.
Gkunratt, the pioneer establishment in the city. At this foundry the
first bell ever made in Califomia was cast, this branch of the business
being still kept up. These works, which employ about thirty men,
consumed forty tons of brass and copper in 1867 — ^products valued at
$60,000.
The Eagle Brass Foundry employs fifteen men; used up in 1867
twenty tons of brass and copper — ^yielding products valued at $20,000.
At tins foundry most of the Government ship work on this coast is
executed.
The Califomia Brass Foundry, largely engaged in making sheath-
ing, nails, spikes, and similar wares for use in ship building, employs
ten men, and consumed in 1866, 4600 pounds of brass and copper;
tfnd in 1867, 6,000 pounds of these materials^ turning out wares worth
$25,000.
Dobrzensk/s Brass Foundry gives steady employment to tweniy
hands; value of products in 1867, $30,000; copper and brass consumed
valued at $12,000.
In addition to the foregoing there are several other brass foundries
in the city, the entire number of men employed at these works being
about one hxmdred and sixty. The total annual consumption of brass
and copper reaches about 160 tons, giving an aggregate production
valued at $260,000.
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MANTTTACTUBES. 617
SAW-MILLS AND LUMBEB.
A little oyer twenty years ago there was not a saw-mill in California
— ^what little lomber had previously been required having been whip-
sawed, or, more generally, split or hewed out by hand, the whole of it
being" made from redwood, where that timber ooxdd be procured. There
are now four hxmdred and twelve of these establishments in this State^
two hundred and seventeen of the number being driven by steam, and
one hxmdred and ninety-seven by water power. The aggregate original
cost of these mills was about $2,700,000. They have a joint capacity
to cut over 600,000,000 feet of lumber annually — ^the quantity actually
cut during the year 1867 having amounted to about 200,000,000 feet.
For a more detailed accoxmt of the extensive mills operating in the great
lumber region along the northern coast, the chapters descriptive of
Humboldt and Mendocino counties may be consulted — a list of the mills
located in each county, with figures indicating their cost, power, capa-
city, etc., having been given in that part of the work treating of the
several counties.
While nearly all the hardwood lumber used in the State is imported
from the East^ scarcely a city in the Union is supplied with the several
varieties of pine, fir, spruce, cedar, and redwood, of better quality, or
at comparatively cheaper rates, than the City of San Francisco — ^the
great entrepot for the lumber trade of nearly the entire coost Hither
is shipped the immense product of the mills of Humboldt and Mendo-
cino— ^Port Orford and Puget Sound lying to the north, while the red-
woods of San Mateo and Santa Cruz coimties, on the south, make free
contributions from that direction. The lumber sent to San Francisco
from these several- sources during the year 1866, amounted, according
to the books of the Lumber Dealers' Association, to 86,000,000 feet of
pine, and 66,000,000 feet of redwood, besides 22,000,000 laths, and
26,000,000 shingles — considerable quantities of spruce and cedar, the
latter coming mostly from Port Orford, and being considered the best
material for flooring in use, having meantime been received, in addition
to the above. The receipts of lumber at San Francisco for 1867 were
larger than those of the preceding year, though less than the esti-
mated receipts for 1868.
WIBE AND BOPE WOBES.
The wire and rope works of A. S. Hallidie, the only establishment
of the kind on the coast, are located in the city of San Francisco.
They were erected in 1867, and though capable of doing but little at
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618 THE NATURAL T7EALTH OF CAUFOBNIA*
first, are now able to tarn out oyer twelve hundred tons of rope and
cable annually. The articles made here embrace every description of
cordage, ropes of a single piece three thousand feet long, and weigh-
ing nearly forty thousand pounds^ having been manufactured. This
establishment has supplied most of the hoisting works of Nevada with
the flat wire rope used on their reels, also the cables for nearly all the
suspension bridges erected during the past ten years in California^
Oregon, and British Columbia, some of these structures having over
four himdred feet span. The wire used in these works is mostly drawn
in the mill of the company, situated at North Beach.
About fifty tons of iron are woven into screens, sieves, cloth, etc,,
at the works of H. T. Graves, which give employment to fifteen men,
and turn out about fiffy thousand square feet of wire work annually,
four looms being kept steadily running.
PAOmO OOBDAGE FACTORY.
This, the only establishment of its class on the coast, was started
by Messrs. Tubbs & Co., at the Potrero, in the southern part of San
Francisco, in 1856, since which time it has been in operation with but
little interruption, producing considerable quantities of rope, the most
of it assorted Manila, and of large size. The rope-walk of this com-
pany is fifteen hundred feet long, the building comprising the spinning
department being one himdred feet in length by forty in width. The
machinery is driven by a steam engine of one hundred and fiffy horse
power, arrangements having been made for enlarging the works to
double their present capacity, the increasing demand for large-sized
mining rope having rendered this necessary. For several years past
fifty persons have been engaged here, the annual consumption of stock
having been about two million pounds^ the most of it imported from
Manila direct Latterly, however, much of the raw material has heea
brought from the Atlantic States, this stock having gradually obtained
a preference over the Manila.
TANNERIES.
Prior to the settlement of California by our people, and for several
years after, the hides of the country were all shipped away, there not
being a single tannery in the State. The quantities shipped hence were
immense, these articles constituting the staple export while the coimtiy
was under Spanish and Mexican rule. The first efforts at tanning, made
about fourteen years ago, failed of complete success^ owing mainly to
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1CANU7A0TUBE8. 619
the inferior quality of the bark used, the properties of ^the different
kinds not being then well understood. In a few years, however, this
difficulty was obviated, our tanners having learned to select such bark
as was well suited to their purposes, of which there is fortunately an
abundance in many parts of the State. There are now over forty tan-
neries in Califomia, the total product of which is estimated at nearly
$800,000 annually. The number of hides of various grades tanned in
1867 amounted to about 100,000; the kinds of leather manufactured con-
sisting mostly of sole, kip, harness and belting, though some calf skin
and morocco were also made — ^more attention being now paid to the
finer varieties than formerly. Of all, except the finer kinds^ enough
leather is now made in the State not only to supply all local wants, but
a large surplus for exportation — ^the shipments hence for 1867 having
amounted to about 2,000 packages, valued at over $100,000. The
leather of California tan commands the highest prices in all foreign
markets, owing to the special good qualities imparted to it by the
superior strength and excellence of the tannin used, and the great
advantages secured to our manufacturers through the long rainless sea-
son, whereby they are enabled to cany their leather through all the
necessary processes without interruption.
The peculiar species of oak that yields this superior tannic acid is
found in the Coast Bange, extending from near Monterey to a point a
little north of the Bay of Mendocino. It also grows plentifully along
the western flank of the Sierra Nevada; therefore, the most of the large
tamieries in the State have been located at points where the bark of this
tree can be obtained conveniently, it being liable to waste with frequent
handlings, while its bulk renders it costly of transportation. The prin-
cipal leather producing coxmties comprise Santa Cruz, San Francisco,
Santa Clara^ Sonoma, San Joaquin and Sacramento, though there are
several others containing one or more tanneries.
Santa Cruz contains seven extensive works of this class, the whole
consuming three hxmdred tons of bark monthly, and producing 50,000
sides of sole, upper, and harness leather per year, valued at $300,000.
This county took the initiative in the tanning business in California^
the abundance of fine water, both for the propulsion of machinery and
other uses, the excellence of the climate, the proximity of the oak for-
ests to the town, near where the most of these works are situated, and
the facilities enjoyed for shipping away the manufactured article, aU
combining to render it one of the most eligible spots in the State for
the prosecution of this business.
There are twelve tanneries in the suburbs of San Francisco, several
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620 THE NATURAL WEALTH 01* GALEFOBNLL
of them being quite extensive; one of the largest, that of Messrs. WoU
& Co., being carried on in connection with a boot and shoe mannfao-
torj — ^the latter also an extensive and flonrishing establishment
POWDEB WOBEa
The consumption of gunpowder in this State has been immense
since the business of vein mining was more extensively entered upon,
and the plan of using it for breaking down the high banks of aurifer-
ous detritus has been so freely resorted to ; the inauguration of active
railroad building having more recently created large and unusual
demands for this article. The demand for the regions drawing their
sui>plies mainly from California now considerably exceeds 200,000 kegs
annually, a quantity that will be largely increased in the course of a
few years, unless the use of this explosive shall meantime be super-
seded by other more cheap and powerful agents — a resxdt by no means
improbable.
There are but two mills in California engaged in the manufacture of
gunpowder — that of the California Powder Works Company, Santa
Cruz county, and that of the Pacific Powder Mill Company, at Olema,
Marin county, the leading facts concerning both of which will be found
embodied in the respective articles descriptive of these counties. Since
coming upon the market, the powder made at these mills, owing to its
superior strength and freshness^ has been preferred to the best imported
brands, their former capacity having been insufficient to fully meet the
requirements made upon them. After a suspension of several months^
for the purpose of enlarging the capacity of their works, and introdu-
cing important improvements^ the California Company resumed opera-
tions at their mill in February, 1868, with a view to conducting them
on a much larger scale than ever before. The two mills now running
in the State, are capable, together, of producing over one thousand
kegs of powder daily. ^
Since this home made article came into use, the prices, besides
being reduced, have been preserved from those capricious fluctuations
arising from an alternately depleted and over-stocked market, and with
present facilities for manufacture, it is not probable that California or
the adjacent States or Territories will, for any length of time, be
dependent oven in part upon these distant and xmcertain sources of
supply, except, perhaps, in the matter of the finer and higher-priced
grades of powder. The advantages enjoyed here for making blasting
powder are such as should hereafter guarantee a full supply of a good
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KAKUFACTUBES. 621
article, at rates not higher than those now prerailing — $2 60 per keg —
if, indeed, it may not be expected that prices will gradually tend
toward lower figures.
The willow and alder, for making suitable charcoal are found grow-*
ing in the vicinity of the present works. Sulphur being plentiful in
many parts of the State, can be obtained at low prices ; and, although
no saltpeter has yet been found in California, the nitrate of soda, a
good substitute in making blasting powder, and used also sometimes
in the manufacture of the finer kinds, is procured from Peru at yery
moderate rates, it b^ing abundant in that country.
FUSE FAOTOBY.
This article, being extremely liable to be injuriously affected by
the moisture to which it is exposed during long sea voyages, is neces-
sarily more or less damaged when imported for use in California. To
this circumstance many of the painful and fatal accidents of such fre-
quent occurrence in the mines are due. With a view to improving the
quality of this article, and at the same time reducing the price, works
have been erected at two different points in the vicinity of San Fran-
cisco for its manufacture.
PAPER MILLS.
Prior to 1855 every variety of paper entering into the consumption
of this coast was imported; in that year the first mill having been
erected in this State, the supply began to be met in part by paper of
home production. There are now two paper mills in California ; one
situated in Santa Cruz; and the other in Marin county.
California, aside from its superior climate, possesses some peculiar
advantages for making paper of every description. The raw material
exists here in such abimdance as to render a supply always certain at
moderate cost. The waters of our moxmtain streams, besides being
ample to serve for propulsive power, are of that soft and limpid char-
acter so essential to the production of first class paper. Very rarely
in other coxmtries do streams possess that degree of purity so necessary
for cleaning purposes.
While our home mills are turning out nearly enough of the coarser
kinds of paper to meet all demands, we are still largely dependent on
importations for finer varieties. Were our own mills worked up to their
full capacity they could make sufficient of every kind to supply the
domestic consumption, but this is not done owing to the prices, par-
ticularly of writing and fancy paper, being kept at extremely low figures
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622 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
through excessiye importation. The joint product of the two mills in
this State amonnts to about $260,000 annually. The raw stock worked
up bj them consists of 500 tons of rags, 300 of old rope and 1,000 of
straw, together with 450 barrels of lime and 4,000 pounds of sulphuric
and muriatic acids annually*
OLASS WOBEa
The demand for bottles, yials, and the coarser kinds of glass ware,
was for many years limited in California. With the growth of the wine
interest, however, the manufacture of chemicals and patent medicines^
the bottling of mineral waters and the rapid increase in the business of
preserving fruits, meats and vegetables, the demand for vessels suit*
able for these purposes has become very large. To meet these exten-
.sive and growing requirements two glass manufactories have already
been founded in San Francisco.
The first of these was erected on the Potrero by the Pacific Glass
Company inl86S^ active operations having been commenced in June of
the following year. At these works all kinds of bottle glass except flint
are made. They give employment to seventy men and boys, and pro-
duced, in 1866, $72,000 worth of wares, and $130,000 in 1867. The
establishment contains one furnace with seven open pots for melting,
it being the intention of the proprietors to largely increase the capacity
of their works in a short time.
The San Francisco Glass Works, erected in 1866, are engaged
chiefly in making bottles, jars, demijohns, lamps, chimneys, and drug-
gist's wares. They also manufacture large sized retorts for use in chem-
ical laboratories and acid works. They employ about forty hand% and
turned out in 1867 over $40,000 worth of wares.
The white sand required for making the finer qualities of glass is
procured from Monterey county, where it exists in large quantities;
the next grade comes from Oakland, Alameda couniy, while that used
in making coarser wares is obtained from the hills about San Francisco.
Besides the above works, there is an establishment in the city
engaged in making mirrors from French plate glass, about 1,200 large
sized pieces of the latter being manufactured annually. Mirrors are
also silvered here, and those damaged resilvered. The action of the
sea air and the dampness incident to long sea voyages is found to cor-
rode and dim the lustre of the amalgam, materially depreciating the
value of imported mirrors, rendering an establishment of this kind
indispensable on this coast. The business of cutting, grinding and
polishing glass is also well represented in San Francisco by the estab-
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1CANUFACTUBE8. 623
lishment of John Mallon, who has carried it on there Buccessfoll j for
the last ten years.
MANUFACTUEE OP SALT.
Between the requirements grown out of the demand for this article
for cnUnarj uses, for meat packing, the treatment of ores, and the
northern fisheries, the consumption is becoming large in California.
The principal sources of supply have thus far been the Alameda and
Los Angeles salt works, whereat the production is e£fected by solar
evaporation, and Carmen Island, on the coast of Lower California,
with considerable importations from Liverpool. There are six mills
in San Francisco engaged in grinding the rough salt, four being em-
ployed for their owners and two in doing custom work. The quantiiy
of salt ground in the city amounts to between twenty and thirty thous-
and tons annually, the article thus prepared being designed chiefly for
table use, while the coarse is disposed of in the manner above desig-
nated.
SOAP FACTORIES.
There are a large number of these works in the State, the greater
number, however, being located in San Francisco. Every variety of
the article is made — ^plain, fancy, and toilet ; the raw material being
abundant in all parts of California. The different establishments in
San Francisco, numbering some dozen or more, produced in 1867 over
three and a half million pounds of soap, their capacities being equal
to the production of ten million poxmds annually. These local facto-
ries not only supply the city and a large portion of the interior, but
also send considerable quantities to British Columbia, Mexico, Central
and South' America, and the Sandwich Islands.
Li addition to soap, an excellent article of washing powder is man-
ufactured by one of the companies in San Francisco, the amoxmt made
in 1867 having reached over three hundred thousand pounds, with the
prospect of being rapidly increased.
CANDLE PACTTOKIES.
Ever since the business of undergroimd mining began to be exten-
sively practiced, the consumption of candles has been large in this State;
none of the attempted substitutes for this article having proved accep-
table. For the past six or seven years the quantities used on this coast
have been enormous, reaching 175,000 boxes in 1864 and increasing to
over 250,000 in 1867. There are now but two factories in the State,
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624 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
both being in San Francisco. Their joint product is abont 16, 000 boxes
per annum. Several other attempts have been made to carry on the
mannfactore of these articles, but all proved &ilares owing to constant
heavy importations, and powerful trade combinations designed to crush
the local manufacturer. One factory, started in 1866, was, after a short
success, destroyed by fire. In view of the great abundance of raw
stock and the large consumption of candles on the Pacific Coasts it
seems a little strange that more of these articles have not been pro-
duced at home, notwithstanding the temporary obstacles alluded to
above. That additional factories will be erected, not only in San Fran-
cisco, but elsewhere in the State, may reasonably be expected, inas-
much as vein and deep channel mining is constantly on the increase,
while the imported article often -falls short of the standard of excel-
lence required.
GLUE FAOTOBT.
The largest establishment in the State engaged in making this article
is that of the Pacific Glue Company, at San Francisco, which, for several
years past, has produced enough to serve not only home wants but a
considerable surplus for exportation, thus famishing, in a small way,
another example of the manner in which California has been able to
send her products and wares to the very markets whence, but a few
years since, she drew her supplies. Neatsf oot oil is cdso made in con-
siderable quantities at this factory, the material for this purpose, as
well also as the parings of skins, and other parts of animals required
for making glue, being abundant in California.
CHEMICAL AND ACID FACTOBIES.
The only two extensive factories of this kind on the coast are sit-
uated in San Francisco. The older of these, located at the Mission
Dolores, was founded in 1855, since which time it has been steadily and
profitably engaged in making all the various articles used in metallur-
gic, photographic, and manufacturing establishments, as well also as
those required in the reduction of ores — all the acids employe^} by the
United States Branch Mint having been supplied by these works.
The Pacific Chemical Works, which commenced operations in July,
1866, in addition to the articles made at the Mission Works, also manu-
facture druggist's materials — ^the laboratory attached to the establish-
ment being very extensive and complete.
The Golden Ciiy Chemical Works^ also located in San Francisco,
manufacture only the sulphate of copper — ^the quantity made in 1867
amounting to about two hundred tons.
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XANUFACTUBBS. 625
Most of the orade sabstancas required in these works, induding
sulphur, is obtained in California — ^the nitrate of soda being brought
from Chili and Mexico.
UATGHE&
There are several factories in San Francisco engaged in making
these articles ; the total production not being much, if any, less than
10,000 gross monthly. Six or seyen years ago our matches were all
imported ; now, California exports several thousand gross annually.
Those made here are mostly of the style known as ** block matches *' — <
the timber used being exclusively Port Orford cedar, which, besides
splitting easily, is a light and inflammable wood.
OIL WORKS.
Several establishments have been erected in different parts of the
State for carrying on the business of expressing, manufacturing and
refining the various descriptions of oils, the greater number of these
works being located in or around the cily of San Francisco. Of the
latter, the two most extensive are those owned by Stanford Brothers,
and Messrs. Hayward & Coleman, engaged in refining the crude petro-
leum, or earth oil, found in many parts of California. The former of
these works produced about forty-five thousand, and the latter about
fifty thousand gallons of the refined article in 1866, less having been
made the following year, owing to heavy importations from the East,
and the low prices ruling in consequence. The above, with one or
two other smaller establishments in the city, have a capacity to distill
over a million gallons of oil annually, and will probably resume opera-
tions in a short time. An oil refinery has also been put up at San
Buenaventura^ Santa Barbara county, and another near Oilroy, Santa
Clara county, the latter erected several years ago, and though of small
capacity, has been run for some time with success.
The crude material for use of the San Francisco works is mostly-
obtained from Santa Barbara county, where, as well as in many other
of the southern counties, it exists in great abundance, and generally
under conditions very favorable for collection ; the method most com-
monly adopted for this purpose, being to drive a system of connecting;
adits into the earth in the vicinity of the natural springs, and thus
gathering the seepage of large areas, conduct it into a reservoir at the .
mouth of the main adit Most of the crude petroleum found on this
coast being inspissated and tar-like, is rather more difficult of dis*
tiUation than the products of the Pennsylvania wells ; and, although^
40
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626 THE NATUEAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBMIA.
it does not make so good an illuminating fluid, it produces a better
lubricating oil than the Eastern petroleum, while it promises also for
the same reason to become a greatly superior steam fueL
The Pacific Linseed Oil and Lead Works^ started in San Fran-
isco in 1866, and the first and only establishment of the kind in the
State, manufacture linseed oil, oil cake, and also express oil from the
castor bean, mustard, sunflower, rape, and other seed« The mill, driven
by a fifty horse power steam engine, is large and perfect in all its
appointments, each department containing every requisite appliance
and recent improvement. Since their late enlargement, these works
employ about twenly men, and have a capaciiy to crush twenty thous-
and bushels of flax seed monthly, and to manufacture over three hun-
dred thousand gallons of oil annually, every variety of oil made here
being of admitted superiority over the imported.
There is connected with this establishment a mill for grinding in
oil, white lead and zinc paints, and for making paints of every variety.
The Phoenix Works^ for refining sperm and whale oils, also located
in San Francisco, are capable of handling about four hundred gallons
per day, having refined at the rate of sixty thousand gallons annually
for the past two years.
Li the fall of 1867 a small mill was projected at Marysville, Yuba
couniy, for extracting oil from the castor bean, flax, mustard, and such
other oleaginous seeds as may be grown and procured in that region.
Early in the following year this mill had been completed, and was
about to commence operations under encouraging auspices.
Heretofore the Pacific mill, in San Francisco, has been obliged to
import its stock of linseed from Calcutta and other foreign places, but
it is thought a sufficiency of this seed will be raised in the course of a
year or two at home to meet all its requirements. Both flax and the
castor oil bean can be grown in California without trouble, producing,
when planted in the right kind of soils, certain and prolific crops; and
now that the farmers have not only a home market for all they can
raise, but, through the construction of mills, are insured a compe-
tition likely to maintain prices at a fair standard, it is expected that
the cultivation of these, and other oil bearing plants and shrubs, will
be extensively engaged in.
The mustard seed, which can always be had in this State, yields a
sweet, limpid oil, valuable for cooking purposes, and even for table
use, some preferring it to butter, and certain classes making it a com-
mon substitute for hog's lard. It is also extensively used to adulterate
<^ve oil, if the addition of an equally good or better article can be
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KANUFACTUBES. 627
called an adulteration, the only object in so employing it being its
greater cheapness.
BICE lOLLa
There are two of these establishments in San Francisco, both driyen
by steam. They each clean about 3,000,000 pounds of this cereal
annually, though they haye a capacity to mill fiye or six times that
amount The quantity imported into California^ where it forms the
chief staple of Chinese subsistence, is about 23,000,000 pounds per
year, of which a small quantity arriyes in the husk, being what is called
" paddy. " Three fourths of the imported rice is brought from China, the
balance coming from Calcutta^ Siam, Manila, and the Sandwich Islands.
Usually this grain requires to be put through three operations in the
process of hulling, though a single one, by the employment of an ingen-
ious machine of California inyention, answers at these mills. By the
use of this machine, the process is not only cheapened, but the grain
is less broken. Under existing tariff regulations, seyeniy-fiye per cent
of the rice brought here is cleaned in China, though it could be done
more cheaply and efficientiy in San Francisco. The only reason that
any is cleaned here is, that it can be done so much better at our. own
mUls^ and with greater saying of the grain.
LIME AND OEMEKT.
The only cement mill in this State is situated at Benicia^ for a moie
paSrticular description of which see Solano couniy. The rock used,
an argillaceous limestone, is abundant at that place, and also occurs at
Martinez, on the opposite side of the Straits of Carquinez. These
works haye capacity to make oyer two hundred barrels of cement daily,
more than enough to supply the wants of the entire coast. The article
manufactured here is equal to the best imported, and being supplied
for a less price (13 per barrel) than the latter can be afforded at, is
likely soon to exclude it entirely from the market. These works, which
were destroyed by fire in the early fall of 1867, haying been rebuilt on
a much larger scale than before, are now turning out one hundred and
fifty barrels of cement daily.
Cement works haye recentty been put up in Oregon, which are
likely to produce a sufficiency of the article for that State and the
adjoining territories.
The consumption on this coast, now rapidly increasing, has hereto-
fore been about thiriy thousand barrels annually, the most of it
imported from the Eastern States.
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028 THS HATUBAIi WEALTH OF <}ALIFOBNIA.
The total annual production of lime ibron^out the State amounts
to about one hundred and thirty thousand barrels, of which one hun-
dred and fiye thousand barrels are receiyed at San Francisco, the
larger portion of it being made at Santa Cruz.
LEAD WOEKS.
The only establishment on this coast for manu&Msturing this metal
into the various forms required for commerce, is that of Thos. H. Selb j
A Co., in the city of San Francisco. These works, erected in 1865,
}iaTe a large manufacturing capacity, having been projected with refei^
ence to the future requirements likely to arise. The buildings are
extensive and substantial, comprising a shot tower, 70 by 80 feet
square at the base, and 200 feet high. The propulsive power is fur-
nished by a large steam engine ; working force employed, sixteen
hands ; value of productions in 1867, $200,000. At these works, not
only shot of every description, but also minnie balls, sheet lead, and
lead pipe are made, several hundred tons of the latter having been
turned out here in 1867.
^ About sixteen hundred tons of crude lead are melted up annually,
the supply having until recently been imported. Early in 1868 this
company erected lead smelting works at Black Point, in the north-
western part of the city, whereat they are now producing lead from
argentiferous galena obtained from the mines of the Castle Dome Dis-
trict^ a few miles east of the Colorado river, in Arizona. It is believed
{hat the argentiferous galena ores found in many parts of this State
can also be used to advantage, when facilities shall be afforded for
their cheaper transportation, as some of them are known to contain a
large per centage of both lead and silver.
MABBLE WOBKS AND QUABRIES.
Kot until within the last three or four years was the business of
quarrying, or manufacturing marble, engaged in to any extent in Cali-
fornia, nearly every thing required in this line having been previously
imported already made. Much of the material is still imported from
abroad, the most of it from Italy,. and worked here to order; though, for
peveral years past, considerable quantities of this stone have been taken
from the several quarries now open in this State.
The two principal worics engaged in manu&Mstnring marble are
located in San Francisco, the value of their joint products amounting
to about $200,000 yearly. The Pioneer Works, driven by steam.
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KAKUFAOTnRE& 629
employ on an average {hirty-five men — ^make tombstones, monuments^
fomitore, etc., and import most of their material. At the other yard,
from twelve to fifteen hands are employed, and ab6ut the same style
df articles are made.
The first quany opened in the State was that at Indian Diggings,
El Dorado county, in 1857, since which time large quantities have been
extracted. It is of the clouded variety, and is much used for memo*'
rial purposes. Near Dayton, Amador county, a quarry of white marr
ble, slightly veined, has been opened, and considerable quantities of
the stone brought to San Francisco, to be used for building purposesc
Kear Columbia^ Tuolumne county, is another extensive formation of
marble, from which large quantities of stone, some of the blocks of
great size, have been broken oui In Placer county, contiguous to the
line of the Central Pacific Bailroad, there is a quarry of vari^a^ated
black marble, considered valuable. In Solano county, and in many
other parts of the State, marble of nearly every description abounds ;
the only reason that these deposits have not been more extensively
worked, being the very limited demand for the article on this coasi
POTTERIES.
There are a number of potteries in and around San Francisco, and
two or three in other parts of the State. The works at the Missioil
Dolores manufacture, from a clay obtained in Sacramento county, every
description of stone-ware, and also wares for acid factories, chemical
works, etc. The establishment at North Beach is engaged chiefly iil
making sewer pipes. At San Antonio, Contra Costa county, there is
quite an extensive pottery, whereat nearly every kind of stone and
earthenware is made, the clay being obtained from a bed near by.
There are also similar works in Sacramento, and at Antioch, Contra^
Costa county, fire-bricks and crucibles, besides stOne-ware, being made
at the latter, the material therefor being obtained from a seam of clay
found in the Black Diamond Coal Mine,
Clays suitable for making not only stone and earthenware, but also
the finer kinds of crockery as well as fire-bricks^ crucibles, etc., are
found in many parts of the State, and it is highly probable that nearly
everything required in this line will in the course of a few years be
supplied by our local potteries.
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030 THE HATUBAIi 1¥BALTH OF GAIJFOBRIA.
BOOTS AND SHOEa
Prior to 1864 there were no extensiye ketones for making these
articles in the State^ the business being confined to a few small shops
doing custom worL
(George K Porter, of Santa Onus; for many years engaged, inc^r-
lying on a tannery at Soquel, in that county, was the pioneer in the
business, haying hired from the State forty or fifty convicts for work-
ing up the products of his tannery into the coarser kinds of boots and
shoes.
All the larger establishments of this class in the State are located
in or near the ciiy of San Francisco, the leading one .being the Pacific
Boot and Shoe Factory, near the Mission Dolores, founded in 1866.
The main building is f oriy by eighiy f eet^ three and a half stories high,
with a tannery attached, where aU the leather worked up is made.
The entire number of hands employed is one hundred and thirty.
Steam power is used, and all the latest and most approved styles of
machinery have been introduced.
At the factory of Wentworth, Hobart k Co., situated within the
dty, nearly every variety of goods is manufactured; over 11,000 pairs
of boots and shoes, and about 6,000 sides of sole and upper leather
being worked up monthly. Hein k Bray employ seveniy-five men,
ftud turn out daily 78 pairs of kip and calf boots of very superior stock
ftud workmanship. Buckingham & Hecht cdso carry on an extensive
business in this line, the wares produced by this house being of marked
excellence. A company of capitalists having recently purchased a tract
of land near Clinton, Alameda county, are now erecting thereon a large
factory with houses for workmen. The place is to be named Lynn,
after the famous cordwainer's city in Massachusetts.
Notwithstanding the large quantities of boots and shoes manu-
factured in the State, the importations of these articles have thus far
continued to increase every year, immense numbers having been sent
to this market via Panama to be forced off at auction. The imports for
1866 amounted to 38,876 packages; for 1866, to 47,349; for 1867, to
66,672 packages. Such, however, is the superiority of the California
to^Ab wares, both on account of the greater excellence of the stock
and care in the making up, that they have always commanded from ten
io fifteen per cent, higher prices than the imported article; and so
great is the consumption of boots and shoes on the coast that the
business of their manufacture here is steadily expanding — ^the value of
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ICANUFACTUBIS. 631
the wares tamed out at domestio {aotories in 1867 haying been esti*
mated at $550,000.
SADDLERY AND HABNES&
Both these branches of business, owing to the peculiar requirements
of the Pacific coast in this line of wares, have been very extensively
prosecuted in California. The superior model of the saddle and other
riding equipments found in use here, when the Americans arrived in
the country, led to their universal adoption by our people, precluding
the importation of other siyles aknost entirely. So, also, the harness
required, being mostly designed for teaming into the moimtains, and
other heavy service, could be made here to advantage, the leather of
domestic tan being furthermore preferable to any elsewhere proour*
able.
The heaviest manufacturers, and the earliest house to engage in
this branch of business in the State, was that of Messrs. Main & Win-
chester, of San Francisco, who, besides their principal establishment
in the ciiy, extended their trade at an early day to many points in the
interior ; their energy, and the excellence of the articles made, securing
to them for a time a large proportion of the trade of the entire coast
They are still largely and actively engaged in the business, the force
constantly employed consisting of sixiy men in the saddlery and har-
ness department, and twelve in the manufacture of whips; the annual
value of the products turned out at their extensive establishment being
about $80,000, equivalent to nearly one half the entire productions of
the ciiy. There are several other saddle and harness manufactories in
the city, nearly every considerable town in the interior of the State
also containing one or more.
WAGONS, CARKIAGES, AGEIOULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, OARS, ETO
For several years after the American settlement of California,
nearly every description of vehicle, except such wagons as had been
brought across the plains, were imported from abroad. For the past
eight or ten years, however, the manufacture of carriages of all kinda
has been largely carried on all over the State ; the greater portion of
Ught vehicles, such as coaches, buggies, express wagons, etc., as well
as most of the trucks and drays, being made in San Francisco, where
the number of workmen employed in this line amounts to about two
hundred and fifty, the value of the productions turned out annuallj
exceeding half a million of dollars.
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83S THB KATUIUL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
It happens in regafti to certain classes of vehicles, tiiat they can be
made to suit the peculiar service for which they are required better
here than in other countries, those manufactured in particular parts
of the State being also generaUj preferred in those localities to anj
others, the makers, from long observation, being better able to adapt
them to the special business they are to be employed in. Thus, at
Sacramento, Stockton, and Marysrille, the best wagons are built for
heavy freighting into the mines, while in the mining towns^ those best
.adapted for hauling ores are constructed.
The business is steadily on the increase, and it is not probable
that many wagons, except the more costly styles of coaches and bug-
gies, will be imported after a year or two more, nearly every descrip-
tion of vehicle of domestic make being preferred to the foreign, even
at a considerable increase of cost.
. At present the home made article supplies about ninety per cent
of the entire demand. The manufacture of cars, for railroads and use
in the mines, is also fast growing into an important business in this
State, aU the leading railroad companies having large shops of their
own for making and repairing their rolling stock A great many of
these vehicles are also manufactured at private shops in San Francisco,
This branch of business, though now considerable, is small compared
with what it will probably be in the course of a few years.
In view of the heavy cost attending the importation of such bulky
articles as agricultural implements, it would, at first glance, be sup-
posed that all required on this coast woi:dd be made here ; and such
would be the case, were their manufacture not prevented, in most in-
stances, by their being patent inventions. As it is, however, many of the
more important and cumbersome are now being constructed here, while
a very large proportion of ploughs, and other more simple implements,
are made in large numbers, there having been over six thousand of the
former manufactured in the State during the past two years. The
following list indicates very nearly the number and value of these
implements imported into the State during the year 1866, the impor-
tations for 1867 having been about the same : 700 ploughs, $91,000;
800 threshers, $180,000; 1,500 mowers, $150,000; 1,000 harrows,
$10,000; 500 grain sowers, $15,000; 200 cultivators, $6,000; 200 gang
ploughs, $10,000; 100 hay presses, $10,000; 1,000 horse rakes, $15,000;
total, $437,000 ; besides which, great numbers of chums, wheel-
bairows, scythes and snaths^ and a vast number of other farming and
dairy utensils of secondary importance were imported.
What was said in regard to the preference given to California made
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KANUFACrrUBES. €8S
wagons and harness applies with equal force to agricultural utensils,
manj fanners being unwilling to use any other than those made in
their own neighborhood — ^this being more especially true of ploughs.
Already a number of our citizens have secured patents for improye-
ments made in this department of invention, the steam plough prom-
ising yery large gains . to the farmer, being the most valuable and
noteworthy of these California contributions to practical agriculture.
Improvements have also been made here in the gang plough of such
value as to warrant their being secured by pateni^ these implements
now being made in various parts of the State.
Threshers, mowers, and reapers, have also been made at several
places, aU of which have given equal satisfaction with those imported.
It is xinfortunate that Califomia grows but few woods well adapted to
car and carriage making, nearly all the better qualities of hard timber
employed for this purpose being brought from the Eastern States.
FUBNTTUBE.
For several years even the most common articles of furniture used
in Califomia were brought from beyond the sea; and although much is
now made here, the importations of the more costly kinds of cabinet
ware still continue to be large. There are several large establishments
in San Francisco engaged in making and finishing furniture; the most
extensive of which is that of Gk>odwin & Co., whose principal factory
and depot, situated on Pine street, is four stories high besides the
basement, and has a frontage of eighiy-two feet with a depth of ninety-
seven feet. It is not only the largest establishment of the kind on the
coast, but is surpassed only by a few in the leading Eastern cities.
This firm give employment to one hundred and thirty men, and have
a capital invested in their business of over one million dollars. They
expend $500,000 annually in the purchase and manufacture of furni-
ture in New York and Boston, their sales in 1867 having amounted to
$800,000, a sum which it is expected will be considerably exceeded
the following year.
W. G. Weir also manufactures a good deal of furniture, employing
at his shops in Hayes Valley over forty men. The value of wares made
in 1867 reached $80,000, which the proprietor expects to double in
1868, having lately added much new machinery and otherwise increased
the capacity of his shops.
In addition to these, there are several other smaller establishments
in the city, the entire number of men steadily engaged in this business
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634 THE NATURAL T7EALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
being about three hundred and twenty, and the total annnal Tahie of
wares made and completed amounting to nearly half a million dollars.
Of the natural woods most used in cabinet work, the principal are
Oregon Pine, Spanish Cedar, Bedwood, Sugar Pine, White Cedar and
California Laurel; this coast not affording any great variety of the finer
kinds of wood, the most of which is imported.
MATTINa
The manufacture of Manila matting commenced on a small scale in
San Francisco, May, 1866, and since largely extended, has meantime
served to greatly check importations, while it has reduced the price of
this article from $1.50 to 75 cts. per yard. The imported is subject to
a tariff of 30 per cent. ; yet, so greatly superior is the machinery here,
and the other facilities for manufacturing, over those enjoyed abroad,
that an intrinsically better article is made, at the same time that the
price is reduced* The material used, consisting of yam spun from the
outside bark of the cocoanut tree, is brought directly from Manila, the
manufactured matting imported coming mostly from China.
PIANOS, OBGANS AND BILLIABD TABLES.
There are but three shops in the State whereat pianos are made,
these all being in San Francisco. They employ an average of twenty
men, and have facilities of machineiy, etc., to make two hundred instru-
ments annually, the actual production being scarcely half that number.
Jacob Zech, the pioneer maker on this coast, has taken many premiums
at the several State and other leading fairs, over foreign competitors.
At these shops aU the different kinds of pianos are made, many of the
square and upright instruments, with iron frames, having been lately
constructed. The woods used are mostly of California growth, and the
instruments produced here are said to be equal in tone and workman-
ship to any made elsewhere, while they stand the climate better. The
principal obstacles in the way of the successful manufacture in Cali-
fornia are found in the high prices of labor and the limited market.
There is but one manufactory of organs in the State, that of Joseph
Mayer, of San Francisco, established in 1860, and whereat there have
since been twelve of these instruments made, all of superior tone and
power, eight of the number having already been set up in leading
churches in San Francisco. Two of these instruments were made in
1867, at a cost of $3,000 each. The material employed is of California
production throughout — every part being made on the ground.
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KANUFACTUBE& 635
There are three shops inhere billiard tables and their appendages
are made, in San Francisco. The number of men employed is about
forty-five ; the value of tables manufactured, about $200,000 annually;
number of tables turned out being from 120 to 130. Many of the native
woods of the coast are used in making these tables.
BBEWEBIES AND DISTILLEEIES.
There are about one hundred and twenty-five breweries in the State,
of which number tweniy-four are located in San Francisco. There is
hot a town in the interior of any considerable size but contains one or
more of these establishments, though some are conducted on a small
scale, making only Plough beer to meet the local demand.
The quantity of malt liquor brewed in San Francisco during the
year 1866 reached 2,600,000 gallons — ^the amount made the following
year having been somewhat larger. Notwithstanding this immense pro-
duction, the importations continue to be large, having summed up
1,398 hogsheads, 14 HO casks and barrels, 4 788 cases, and 360 tierces^
for the year 1867. The malt is made wholly from Califomia barley,
while most of the hops now used are also of home growth.
While there are numerous small distilleries in the State, the two
loading ones, at which three fourths of all the spirits manufactured are
made, are located in San Francisco.
The works of J. Dows & Co., established fourteen years ago, have a
daily capacity to make 1,000 gallons of pure spirits, to the production
of which they are chiefly confined. The Pacific Distillery turned out,
in 1867, 133,000 gallons of spirits, though it is capable of making
more than four times that amount The capacity of all the distilleries
in San Francisco is set down at about 1,000,000 gallons per annum ;
the entire product for 1867 having been 700,000 gallons, as against
430,000 the preceding year. The material used for distillation consists
of barley, wheat, Indian com, and rice ; Sandwich Island molasses
being substituted when these cereals are scarce, or unusually costly.
BBOOMS, AND BEOOM OOBN.
As already remarked, broom com thrives on most of the rich allu-
vial lands of the State, the stalk growing vigorously, and the brush
being straight^ clean and heavy. The tule lands, where sufficiently
dry, are especially adapted to its culture. The growing of thi^ cane,
entered upon some eight or ten years ago, is every year extending.
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636 THE KATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
patches of it being raised in nearly every agricnltoral ootmly of the Slate
— ^Yuba^ Sutter, and Butte taking the lead.
There are now fifteen broom factories in California^ ten of which
are located in San Francisco. Some of these factories are extensive,
while others are on a small scale, the whole number of brooms made in
the State, during the year 1867, having been 40,000 dozen, valued at
$150,000, The price of the com ranges from $50 to $65 per ton, and
pf the brooms, from $3 to $6 per dozen, according to qualiiy. With
this extensive growth and home manufacture, everything in this line
has ceased to be imported, California having a large yearly surplus to
spare, which finds a market in all the adjacent States and Territories,
many also being sent to British Columbia, the Amoor river, China,
Australia, Sandwich Tslands^ Mexico, etc
WOOD AND WILLOW WARE.
There are two wooden ware factories in the State, both being in
San Francisco. They employ about eighty hands, are driven by steam
power, make every variety of article common in their line, and, it is
conceded, of a quality equal to those imported ; the quantity of which
has been greatly diminished, some descriptions being wholly discon-
tinued since the starting of these local factories, which have also
reduced prices fully tweniy-five per ceni The material used consists
mostly of pine, cedar, and redwood; of California and Oregon growth,
about 2,600 cords of which, besides 100,000 hazel hoops for powder
kegs, eighty tons of hoop iron bands, and large quantities of other
materials are consumed annually. The cheapness and excellence of
the stock required for making these wares will always be such as to
give the Pacific coast factories great advantages over those inmost oiher
countries. The two San Francisco establishments turned out during
the year 1867, 30,000 tubs; 8,000 dozen pails; 2,400 dozen washboards;
180,000 broom handles, and 70,000 powder kegs, besides large quanti-
ties of other wares pertinent to the trade.
CLOTHING, SHIRTS, ETa
The value of these articles manufactured annually in this State
amounts to about one and a quarter million dollars. The greater por-
tion of them is made in the city of San Francisco, where there are
four or five firms and companies engaged in the business. They depend
chiefly on the local woolen mills for their fabrics, and as these are of
admitted superioriiy, the clothing made is always of marked excellence^
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KANUFACTUBES. 637
eommanding extremely liigh prices. Most of the larger clothing man-
u&ctorers include shirtmaking in their business, though there are two
or three establishments confined wholly to the making of these articles.
The number of hands employed in these several branches is between
ioux and five hundred, independent ol those working in the tailor
shoi>Sy of which there are a large number in the city.
CALIFORNIA. TYPE FOUNDBT.
Although the manufacture of type, stereotyping, and electroiyping
has been carried on in San Francisco for several years in a small way,
not until January, 1867, was the business introduced on an extended
and systematic plan, when Messrs. Wm. & Geo. L. Faulkner, having
completed their foundry, entered vigorously on the manufacture of
type of every description. This firm had for many years previously
been engaged in importing type and printers' materials, having been
among the first parties on the coast to embark in the business. Over
30,000 pounds of iype were turned out at this foundry the first year,
most of the metal used having been obtained from the mines of
this State and Nevada. This firm also carries on the business of
stereotyping and electroiyping in conjunction with the above branch
of the business^ the type on which this book is printed having been
made at their foundry, as well also as the stereotype plates taken from
the same.
There being about three hundred printing offices on the coast, the
demand for the supplies in this line is large and rapidly increasing.
These requirements the Messrs. Fatdkner expect to meet with home
made material, equal in qualiiy, and at prices below that of the imported.
Already they have furnished full suits of type for most of the newspapers
on the coast, and it seem&f probable that the importation of printers'
materia!, heretofore large, wiU for the future be much curtailed by the
products of this foundry.
CIGAB MANUFACTUBES.
This business is carried on extensively in San Francisco, there being
over one hundred shops in the ciiy, employing seven hundred and sixly
hands, nearly all of them Chinese. The rapidity with which this
trade has grown up is indicated by the fact that scarcely any cigars were
made here in 1860, while the number had increased to 11,000,000
in 1865 ; to 23,600,000 in 1866; and to 36,000,000 in 1867 ; in addition
t6 which 4000,000 Havana cigars were that year imported, and
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638 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA.
nearly as many more smuggled into the country — wiRlnng an aggregate
of nearly 45,000,000. If to this is added 6,000,000, on account of
cigars made in the interior, we have a total stock accumidated in the
country approximating 50,000,000 of these articles within a single year.
The tax paid upon cigars made in the State amounted, in 1864, to
less than 12,000. In 1866 it reached $212,500; while, in 1867, though
the manufacture had largely increased, the reyenue from it fell oS, in
consequence of a reduction in the excise duty.
Of the 40,000,000 cigars manufactured in the State during the year
1867, about 25,000,000 were made from pure seed leaf; 11,000,000 from
seed leaf and Havana; and the balance from pure Havana. Nearly the
whole of the raw material used here is imported — the most of it com-
ing from the Eastern States and Havana ; over 3,000 cases of tobacco
are imported annually. The experiments made at cultivating this
plant in California have failed to prove remunerative to the grower,
or wholly satisfactory to the consumer. The causes of the failure are
variously attributed to defects in the soil and climate, and to careless-
ness and ignorance in the curing of the leaf — ^justice, perhaps, requir-
ing that the agencies of this failure should be about equally distributed
among the several causes thus assigned for it.
As our manufacturers have been able to place upon the market^ at
a less price, fully as good an article as that imported from domestic
Atlantic ports of supply, shipments from the latter have nearly ceased;
those imported consisting of Havana, brought in under a duty of $65
per thousand.
FUBS.
Prior to the American occupation of California^ the business of
trapping and hunting fur-bearing animals, and bartering in their pelt-
ries, constituted one of the leading pursuits throughout the countries
west of the Bocky Mountains — San Francisco having been formerly
one of the centres of this trade on the North Pacific. The men
engaged in these pursuits were the first to explore these extensive
regions, and to acquaint the world with their resources and geography;
their labors having meanwhile enriched the companies in whose
services they were employed. This traffic, which at one time attained
to large proportions, was suddenly curtailed by the discovery of gold
in California^ that event having drawn away most of the employ^ of
these companies, and otherwise interfered to check their operations.
The latter, however, were still continued on a diminished scale in ihe
British and Bussian possessions to the north, though the quantities of
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XANUFAGTUBES. 639
furs reaching San Francisco was much less than formerly. Still, about
$500,000 worth have arrived at that market annually, from yarious
points on the northern coast and in the interior, the supplies from the
latter source having been on the increase for the past several years.
Of the furs reaching that city, about 140,000 worth of the choicer
kinds are selected and made up to meet the requirements of the domes-
tic trade, the balance being shipped abroad. These furs comprise a
very broad range, the more valuable kinds consisting of otter, beaver,
silver fox, sable, mink, and martin, though the wolf, squirrel, common
fox, and almost every other wild animal, contributes towards filling up
the variety. There are three houses engaged in this line of manufac-
ture in San Francisco, the whole employing sixty-five hands, and turn-
ing out products valued at about $200,000.
Since the purchase of Alaska by the United States, the duty on
Bussiaii furs having been removed, our local furriers are able to sup-
ply all home demands, at prices that forbid competition. Since the
acquisition of this territory, a company having a large capital has
been formed in San Francisco, to prosecute the fur trade in that region,
a movement that promises to largely increase the products from that
quarter in the future.
MEAT PAOKINO AND OURINa
This branch of business is now largely carried on, not only in San
Francisco, but throughout many parts of California and Oregon; the
quantity of bacon, pork, ham, lard, and salt beef produced increasing
rapidly every year. Already this coast, which, but a few years ago,
drew the bulk of these articles from the East, is independent of all
outside sources of supply, and it seems probable that shipments to
Oalifomia will hereafter be small. Swine, it is found, can be raised
here with great facility, the tule and other wild roots, and the oak
mast, being ample, in the localities where met with, to subsist and fatten
these animals with but little expense or care on the part of the owners.
For the Oalifomia and Oregon cured meats, a great preference is gen-
erally given over all other kinds; the government commissariat, finding
them more fully up to the requirements of the department, regard
them with special favor.
The climate of San Francisco, from it« low and equable tempera-
ture throughout the year, being particularly well suited for the busi-
ness of meat packing and curing, most of the larger establishments
in this line have been located there. It is estimated that there are
slaughtered in that city annually 58,000 hogSy of the average weight
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<(40 THE NATURAL IfEALTH OF CALI70BNIA.
of 110 pounds, about eighty per ceni of which is cured into ham and
bacon. The number of neat cattle annually slaughtered is also Teiy
large, though a smaller proportion of the meat is smoked or packed
down.
DBIED AND PBESEBTED FBTTTrS, VEGETABLES, ETC.
But a few years since everything consumed in this line upon the
Pacific coast was sent to us from abroad. Now, although we still con-
tinue to receive certain kinds from the East, the importation of others
has entirely ceased, and we are exporting considerable quantities every
year, not only to the adjacent State of Nevada and the Territories be-
yond, but also to domestic Atlantic ports, our dried fruits being espe-
cially esteemed wherever they are sent
The largest establishment in this line on the coast, that of Messrs.
Cutting & Co., San Francisco, put up, during the year 1867, 5,000
cases of pickles; 6,500 of tomatoes; 3,000 of fresh peaches; 3,000
cases of jellies; 1,000 of jams; 1,000 cases of peas; 500 cases of becms,
and 2,000 of assorted fruits — ^making a total of 22,000 cases of these
articles, besides a proportionate quantity of ketchups, vegetables and
canned meats. This firm have a capital of $165,000 invested in the
business, and employ, during the active season, over one hundred
lumds, it being estimated that they do over two thirds of all that is
transacted in this line in San Francisco.
The business of fruit drying is mostly carried on in the interior and
bay counties, where the greater portion of it is grown, many nursery-
men and families curing, besides enough for home use, a quantity for
markei
MISCELLANEOUS MANIJFACTUBES.
Besides the foregoing articles there are many others manufactured
on a small scale in the State, or which are in other respects of but sec-
ondary importance. Among these, the following, confined to San Fran-
cisco, may be enumerated, as most entitled to notice.
Daniel Callaghan, manufacturer of yeast powders^ made in the year
1866, 2,000 gross, and in 1867, 3,000 gross of this article; besides pro-
ducing, in the latter year, 90,000 pounds of cream of tartar, and
250,000 pounds of soda and saleratus.
A beginning has been made at manufacturing oil cloths, a business
that can hardly fail to increase, as the consumption of this article is
large, and prices of the imported always rule high. Book-binding
and the manufacturing of blank books, is extensively carried on — ^a
San Francisco firm having erected a shop at the State Prison, where
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XAIHTFACTUBES. 641
ih^ employ fi% of tiie convicts in the different branches of the busi-
ness. Oyer a million dollars worth of coffee and spices are prepared
in San Francisco annuallj — about fifty men being employed at the busi-
ness. A company has lately been formed in that city with a capital of
$100,000 to carry on the manufacture of chiccory, a root that can be
grown with facility in all parts of the State. There are now several
mills engaged in grinding it, and it is calculated that, after supplying
all home demands, the State will produce 1,000,000 pounds for export
the present year. Over half a million pounds of maccarroni and ver-
micelli are made every year — ^the home made article being preferred to
the foreign.
There are also two shops at which blacksmiths' bellows and similar
utensils are made; two gold-beaters' shops ; a large number of manu-
facturing jewelers; a factory for making buckskin gloves; soap-stone,
starch, glue, soap-root hair, and straw works; several metallurgical
works, whereat ores of all kinds are assayed and reduced, either on a
large scale or in small quantities, as practical tests in prospecting
mines; a number of large assaying establishments, where, besides the
mere assaying and analysing of ores and metals, the latter are refined,
parted and run into bars, preparing them for the uses of exchange and
commerce; two or three companies engaged in laying down asphaltum
sidewalks, roofs, etc. ; also, others engaged in putting down the Nicol-
son pavement, with which large sections of the streets of San Fran-
cisco are now laid; fifteen factories where bags» sacks, etc, are made,
mostly by sewing machines; two large shops where superior articles of
cutlery are manufactured, the most of it being made to order; twelve
extensive cooperages; two establishments for making fire-works^ the
products of which have been found so superior to all others as to have
greatly diminished importations from China^ at least for the con-
sumption of our own people. In 1867, 12,000 feet of hose and $10,000
worth of leather belting were made, requiring 3,000 sides of leather.
The hose manufactured here is found to greatly outwear that of
Eastern make, owing mainly to the superior character of California
leather.
Mouldings, stairs^ doors, sash and blinds, boxes, looking-glasses
and picture frames, show cases, etc., formerly nearly all imported, are
now extensively manufactured in California — the greater portion being
made in San Francisco. Early in 1868 a company was formed in that
ciiy for the purpose of engaging largely in the manufacture of doors,
blinds, sash and mouldings, intending to start operations in the course
of a few months. There are several mills in San Francisco where one
41
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642 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALEPOBNIA.
or more of the above branches is carried on — ^besides a number of
smaller capacity located in different towns of the interior.
Works have been erected in Marysyille, Yuba county, for the man-
ufacture of pitch, rosin, and turpentine, the raw material being
obtained by tapping the trees in the extensive pineries that exist
along the foot-hills of that and adjacent counties. The quantity made
last year reached but little over twenty thousand gallons, not much
more tlian half the amount produced the preceding year, and scarcely
one third of what it is expected will be turned out in 1868. The home
made article is equal to the imported, and could be produced in almost
any quantity and at less price than the Eastern, were it not for the
cost of freight from the interior to San Francisco, the central market.
WOBKS PROJECTED, OR IN PROGRESS.
The machineiy for a silk factoiy has been imported into the State,
and although its erection may be deferred for a time, owing to the silk
growers preferring to sell their eggs rather than rear the worms for
making the textile, there is, no doubt^ but this mill will eventually be
put up and run with profit
Early in 1868 the Oakland Cotton Mill Company had taken prelim-
inary measures for putting up in San Mateo counfy a mill for manu-
facturing fabrics from flax; and as some three or four hundred acres
had that year been sown in the bay counties with the seed of this
plant, besides a considerable area in the interior, it is very probable
that the proposed mill will in good time be erected. As bags can be
furnished from flax at about half the cost of burlap sacks, and as the
construction of this mill will make a market for their lint, the farming
community will, no doubt, extend to the project every possible encour-
agement
The Natoma Water Company, an association directed by sagacious
and energetic men, and possessed of ample means, having secured a
franchise to all the water of the American river, are now engaged con-
structing a canal of sufficient capacity to carry the entire stream at
ordinary stages, it having thus been appropriated and made available
for propulsive purposes. The point selected for diverting the river is
situated one mile and five-eighths above the town of Folsom, through
which the canal is to extend, having a fall in this distance of one hun-
dred and fifteen feet, whereby a three thousand horse power will be
generated, with the river- at its lowest stage, and nearly double that
amount for more than one half the year — ^being, it is estimated, equiva-
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MANUFACTUBES. 643
lent to that which propels the immense factories at LowelL The canal
of this company haying nearly reached completion in the spring of
1868, the dam, a substantial structure to be built wholly of granite,
was expected to be finished the following summer. It is their design
to sell portions of the water power to such parties as may be desirous
of using it for manufacturing purposes; and as this locality is central
and accessible by railroad, besides being near the extensive granite
quarries of Folsom, whence the best of building material can be easily
obtained, there is every likelihood that a large and prosperous manu-
facturing town will xdtimately grow up at this place.
In reference to the manufacturing interests of California^ it may, in
conclusion, be observed, that under the tendency to cheaper labor and
capital, the growing confidence felt in the future of California, and the
expectation of its rapid and permanent settlement, a variety of new
branches are constantly being introduced, while many of the earlier
established and more important are being extended. And, yet, so broad
is this field that some important departments of manufactures have
thus far been wholly overlooked or are but feebly represented, afford-
ing here many excellent openings for capital, skilled labor and well
directed enterprise.
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CHAPTER XII.
CITT AND OOUNTT OP SAN FRANCISCO.
fiitafttion, Topography, etc.— Eaily Settlement and Subsequent Progress — Street Grades,
Pnblio Grounds, etc. — ^ImproTement of Water Front — Style and Pecnliarities of Boild-
ing»— Fear of Eartliqnakfls, and its Effects — Churches, and Places of Public Worship—
Theatres, and other Places of Amusement — Scientific, Social, Literary, and Eleemosy-
nary Institutions — ^Number of Inhabitants — ^DiTersity of Bace?, Ideas and Customs —
Juvenile Population— If anufaotuxing Status, etc. — ^Educational System — ^Public Schools,
Colleges, Seminaries and Private Institutions of Learning — ^Value of City Property —
Municipal Income, Debt and Expenditures — Buildings, Improvements, etc. — ^Police and
Fire Department— Cemeteries, Public Gardens, Homestead Associations— City Bail-
roads— Gas Works and Water Worioi — ^Markets — ^Banking Institutions and Insurance
Oompaniee— United States Branch Mint — ^Advantages^of Position— Foreign Commerce
and Domestio Trade— Bullion Products— Passenger Anivals, etc
SITUATION, TOPOOBAPHY, ETC
The oiij and county of San Francisco embrace one mnnicipality,
the act of consolidation having taken effect July 1, 1856. The county
comprises the northern end of a peninsula^ about tweniy-fire miles long,
formed by the bay of San Francisco on the east and the Pacific ocean
on the wesi^ its entire area covering a space of 26,861 acres, including
the Presidio reservation, of 1,500 acres^ belonging to the general gov-
ernment The city occupies the extreme northern point of this penin-
sula, which is here about four miles wide, being covered for the most
part with high hills and sandy knoUs, separated by small valleys,
ravines, and elevated plateaux, the bay being at most points bordered
by extensive stretches of sand-beach and salt-marsh, or overlooked by
high hills, terminating on the water side in steep bluffs and rocky
headlands. The loftier of these hills, composed of solid earth and
rock, vary from 250 to 400 feet in height, the sand-knoUs being from
60 to 100 feet high. Owing to these inequalities, the grading of the
streets has been expensive, and in places long delayed, it being, even
in densely peopled localities^ but partially completed.
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Omr AND COUNTY OF 8AK FBANOIBOO. 645
EAKLY SETTLEMENT AND SUBSEQUENT PROGRESS.
Prior to 1835 the present site of the citj was whoUj uninhabited,
what few people there were in the neighborhood residing at the Presi-
dio and the Mission Dolores. Vessels entering the harbor anchored off
the Presidio, that being the ''embaroad^ro" for the Mission, which
was then the principal point of business. In the historical portion of
this volume will be found a sketch of the early settlement of San
Francisco, the name adopted for the town in 1847, it haying previously,
been called Yerba Buena, the name still retained by the large island
ill the bay opposite the city.
Having already become an active village, with a population of
several hundred, the growth of the place, greatly accelerated by the
discovery of gold in 1848, expanded with unexampled rapidity on the
arrival of the new immigration, a little more than one year thereafter.
Its progress has since been steady and healthful, the establishment of
manufactures, and the unbounded confidence felt in its future, having
greatly hastened its growth during the past few years. But in its
recent advancement it has by no means outstripped the requirements
of its business and population, both of which have fully kept pace
witli its growth. The city now covers an area more than double that
occupied by it ten years ago, its population and local industries having
increased in a ratio even greater than its territorial expansion.
STREET GRADES, PUBLIO GROUNDS, ETC.
It is unfortunate that the city was originally projected with so little
regard to regularity, to the natural inequalities of surface and its future
wants as relates to width of streets, reservation of grounds for parks,
public buildings, etc. ; owing to which, the inhabitants have already been
subject to great inconvenience and expense in attempting to partially
supply these omissions and remedy these defects. Not a street in the city
conforms in its course to the cardinal points of the compass; the whole
town standing askew — ^its grand plot being made of a patch-work of
surveys executed at different times and apparently without object or
system. In this manner many of the streets and blocks are cut by
awkward angles for which there was no necessity, while a large number
of the streets entering the main avenues from opposite directions
strike the same at points widely separated, whereby their continuity
has been destroyed — suggesting, in the miner's phrase, the occurrence
of a *'sUde."
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6^ THB NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBKIA.
For this cnlpable neglect of system and foresight, no better excuse
is to be found than the inability of the earlier settlers of the town to
foresee its fntore greatness and the reckless indifference of those who
came after, as to both its appearance and welfare.
In adjusting the street grades these grave mistakes hare been far-
ther mntiplied, in an utter disregard of the topography, whereby dan-
gerous precipices and unsightly chasms have been formed in the very
heart of the town, through the costly and generally vain endeavor to
reduce these natural inequalities of the surface. This system, while
it has operated to the great detriment of property-holders, has in
numerous instances also resulted in the permanent disfigurement of the
city.
So narrow were many of the streets, which it should have been
foreseen must become great thoroughfares, that it has lately been found
necessary to widen several of them; while others, in consequence of a
too abrupt termination, have required to be extended in order to
accommodate the trade and travel of certain quarters, these prolonga-
tions causing irreparable defacement to the blocks and streets they are
made to cross. In those parts of the town more recently laid out many
of the above mentioned evils have been avoided. The citizens have
also of late become earnestly interested in the subject of setting apart
from the Pueblo lands ample reservations for school houses, parks,
squares and similar purposes; therefore, it seems probable that San
Francisco will in a short time be noted for the extent of its public
grounds, if not for the costly style of their improvement
The city is already the owner of sixteen squares, ranging in size
from one acre, or a little more, to seventeen acres — the area of Terba
Buena, the largest of the number. The most of these squares contain
four acres each, the area of the whole being 117.45 acres. Although
nearly all of them are enclosed, only Portsmouth, the smallest of the
number, and often called by way of distinction the '' Plaza^" has been
improved.
The greater portion of the earth removed in excavating the streets
and grading lots has been used to fill in the tide lands^ of which there
is a large scope lying east of and in front of the city. Many of the
sand-hills have also, through the aid of the steam-paddy and a resort
to temporary railroads, been removed and employed to fill in the water
lots along the city front, much of the eastern section of the town, com-
prising some of the principal business streets, standing wholly on
these made lands.
In designating the streets^ the plan of naming, instead of number-
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CITY AND COUKTY OP 8AN FRANCISCO: 647
ing or lettering, has been adopted ; in the older parts of the town, the
cognomens of early settlers haying been largely used for the purpose,
although our more national names, such as Washington, Franklin,
Jefferson, Clay, Webster, Scot<^ etc., hare by no means been ignored.
A few of those appellations common in English and American cities,
such as Broadway, Front, Market, Main streets, and the like, are also
found here. The Philadelphia, or rather, perhaps, we should say, the
botanical plan, of naming the streets after certain well known trees,
has not obtained to any great extent, the list being confined to four or
fiye species. In the southern part of the town, a portion of the streets
running southeast from Market, the back-bone of the ciiy, have been
numbered, some of those thus designated being named as welL For
some of the streets south of Mission bay, names have been selected
from the several States of the Union, interspersed among which, with
characteristic confusion, are the names of Oalifomia counties, and a
sprinkling derived from other sources.
IMPROVEMENT OF WATEB FBOlTf.
Originally the water along the city front was so shallow, except at
a few bluff points, that large vessels could not approach within a quar-
ter of a mile of the shore, necessitating the use of boats and lighters
for receiving and landing freight and passengers. Soon, however,
wharves resting on piles were built, extending sufficiently far into the
bay to admit every class of craft lying along side them. Meantime
the space between the outer end of these structures and high water
line began to be filled in with earth, sand and rubbish carted in
from the city, to which being superadded the surface wash and slum
of the sewers, a mass of decomposing filth soon accumulated, which,
besides offending the senses and im^riling the public health, threat-
ened, by gradually settling outward, to fill up and destroy the harbor.
With a view to obviate these evils and arrest this danger, the plan
of building a sea-wall having been determined upon, the construction
of this work was commenced in 1867, and is now in progress ; the
intention being to prosecute it as rapidly as the revenues derived from
the wharves will admit, these having been set aside for the purpose.
This sea-wftU, which is eventually to extend along the entire city front,
a distance of 8,446 f^et, is to be formed of a rocky embankment at
the bottom, with a superstructure of solid granite, and will cost, when
completed, according to estimate, about two and a half million dollars.
In the southeastern part of the ciiy, large areas of the shallow waters
bordering Mission bay have, within the past few years, been filled in
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648 THE MATUSAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBHIA.
with solid earth, temporary bulkheads having been constructed to
retain the mass in place, where necessary. Upon these new made lands
many large warehouses, brick stores, and other permanent stmctnres
have been erected, some portions of them now ranking among the most
thronged thoroughfares in the city.
BTYIiE AND PECUTJARITIE8 OF BUILDINGS — FEAR OF EARTH-
QUAKES, AND ITS EFFECTS.
The architecture of the city, for a long time exceedingly crude and
eccentric, has greatly improved within the past ten years, having be-
come universally more chaste and regular. At first the character ci
the buildings was not only outr4 in style, but extremely fragile and
temporary, there being neither the material nor the disposition to
make them more tasteful, solid, or enduring. For many years no other
building material than lumber could be had except at enormous cost,
while the urgent necessities of trade forbade the delay necessary for the
erection of more permanent structures. The sweeping fires, however,
and the fear of earthquakes^ together with the gradual cheapening of
more solid material, have at length, not only led to the abandonment
of this light and flimsy style of building, but has caused it to be super-
seded by one distinguished for massiveness and endurance. In no
other city in the Union are the buildings more remarkable in this
respect than those erected during the last few years in the business
parts of San Francisco ; nor in this extreme attention to solidify and
strength have ornamentation and elegance been overlooked.
Owing to a fear of earthquakes the houses in San Francisco are not
built as high as in most other large cities, the greater part of them,
including the leading public edifices, not exceeding three or four stories
in height There is not a brick building of any magnitude in the city
having more than five stories, and, perhaps, not a dozen having more
than four, exclusive of basement. Experience does not, to be sure,
warrant the apprehension of grave danger or damage as likely to arise
from this cause; no loss of life or serious injury to limb or property
ever having happened in consequence thereof since the founding of the
city. Earthquakes are, indeed, of frequent occurrence, one or more
shocks being felt nearly every year. But with two or three exceptions
they have been so slight as to cause no alarm — scarcely to attract more
than passing attention — ^the majority of them not even being observed
by most people. Many persons have resided in San Francisco since its
earliest settlement without being once conscious of the occurrence of
these phenomena; the only damage arising from which has been the
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dry Am> cx)unty op ban FRANCiscOi 649
throwing down of some toppling parapets, and the cracking of certain
ill-constructed walls, with slight injury on one or two occasions to a
few newly erected brick buildings, the whole of which was repaired at
an expense of less than ten thousand dollars — a very inconsiderable
sum compared with the benefits that have indirectly accrued from the
fears inspired by these harmless disturbances.
CHUBCHES AND PLACES OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. •
San Francisco contains forty-six churches, apportioned among the
several religious denominations as follows: Baptist, Congregationalist
and Jewish, 4 each; Episcopalian, 5; Methodist, 9; Presbyterian, 6;
Lutheran, 2; Catholic, 10; Unitarian, 1; TJniversalist, 1; besides which
there are a number of sects, ten or fifteen in the aggregate, who regu-
larly worship in public halls, court rooms, and similar places. Two of
these establishments belong to the people of color, both being com-
modious buildings and largely attended. The congregations owning
them are of the Methodist Episcopal persuasion, and number among
their members many persons of intelligence and wealth. Some of the
church edifices of San Francisco are costly and imposing structures,
the expenditure upon several, including cost of site, having exceeded
$200,000. Besides these places of Christian and Jewish worship, there
are two Chinese temples in the city, with a number of small chapels
wherein this people pay their devotions, the temples being used only
at intervals, as on New Tear's day, and other religious or festive occa-
sions. At these times all the rites and ceremonies peculiar to Bud-
hism are carefully observed, this worship involving, after the wont of
all Oriental religions, a vast display of barbaric tinsel and studied
formality.
THEATRES, AND OTHER PLACES OF AMUSEMENT.
There are eight theatres of various grades in San Francisco, one of
the oldest and largest having early in 1868 been destroyed by fire.
These institutions have always been well sustained, the people of Cali-
fornia having, from the earliest settlement of the State, been liberal
patrons of the drama, notwithstanding the prices of admission to these
places, much less now than formerly, are more than fifty per cent,
higher than in any other part of the world.
Th^ individual receipts of these theatres range from three up to
twenty thousand dollars per month. For several years past, theatrical
performances, previously allowed on the Sabbath, have been prohibited
by law on that day — a restriction that excites much opposition on the
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650 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
part of many citizens of foreign birth. Of these theatres, two belong
to the Chinese — ^the performances being in that language, and their
patrons belonging almost exclasirelj to that race. Besides the regular
and legitimate theatres, there are many other places of recreation and
^imusement in San Francisco, such as melodeons, music halls, public
gardens, etc. ; while of beer cellars, dance houses^ and other low places
of resort, the number is discreditably large.
SCIENTIFIO, SOCIAL, UTERABY, AND ELEEMOSYNABY INSTITU-
TIONS.
Of these various institutions, societies^ and orders, San Francisco
can justly boast a large number, considering the youthfulness of the
city and its comparatively limited population — ^there being over sixty
different organizations of this kind, independent of the Masonic and
Odd Fellows* fraternities, both very efficient and numerous.
Among the associations devoted to the culture of scientific and phi-
losophical pursuits, the principal are the California Academy of Natural
Sciences and the German Society of Natural Sciences; the former, organ-
ized in 1863, and now numbering over eighiy members. These institu-
tions, which comprise among their members most of the leading natural-
ists, scientists and savans of the State, are justly entitled to the thanks
of the public for their valuable and gratuitous services in behalf of the
cause of science and economic industry. To their observations on the
peculiarities of California meteorology, and their investigations in the
various departments of natural history and philosophy, including a care-
ful study of the geology, mineralogy, and botany of the State, our peo-
ple are indebted for the utilization of many important facts, and the
dissemination of much knowledge of popular interest and practical
value.
Among the institutions of a purely literary, or which partake of a
literary, social and industrial character, the Mercantile Library, the
Mechanics' Institute, the Young Men's Christian Association, and the
Society of California Pioneers^ stand most prominent— each of ihem
owning extensive and costly buildings, supplied with capacious and
well stocked reading rooms, large and valuable libraries^ and almost
every other aid and appliance calculated to promote the objects of their
organization.
The citizens of San Francisco have ever been noted for their lib-
eral and ready responses to demands made upon them in the name of
charity; hence we find the city abounding in well sustained institutions
of a purely benevolent kind, foremost among which are the Protestant
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CnT AND COUNTY OF BAN FRANCI800. 661
Orplmn Asjlnm, incorporied Febmaiy, 1851. In 1864 a btdldiiig was
erected at a cost of $30,000, to which additions hare since been made,
involving an equal expenditure. The institution contains two hundred
children, though it has accomodations for fifty more. The Roman
Catholic Orphan Asylum, an equallj noble charity, contains about
three times the number of children that there are in the Protestant
Asylum. This establishment, to which there is attached an extensive
school, consists of several large and expensive buildings — the whole
having cost over $100,000, independent of the valuable tract of ground
on which they are situated. Among the more notable and meritorious
of these associations is the Ladies* Protection and Belief Society, the
San Francisco Benevolent Association, the Seamans' Friend Society, the
State Industrial School, the Prisoner's Aid Society, and the City Alms
House, recently founded. It may here be observed that the State ex-
tends a liberal aid to some of these institutions — ^lai^e sums being
given every year to the Orphan Asylums by special appropriation. For
their chief support. Which involves constant and heavy expenditure,
however, they have to look to the voluntary services of the philanthro-
phic, and the contributions of the benevolent
Besides these public charities there are a multitude of others of a
more private kind, almost every nationality having at least one, and
some of them several organizations designed to aid the needy and suf-
fering of their own countrymen. Connected with several of these
societies are large and well conducted hospitals for the reception and
treatment of persons suffering from wounds or sickness. An extensive
hospital belonging to the city is always kept full of inmates, invalids
from all parts of the State making this an asylum in their extremities.
The municipal authorities, however, have received all applicants with-
out discrimination or question, notwithstanding no assistance has been
rendered by the various counties, thus shifting upon the metropolis the
burdens which they themselves should have borne, or should cheerfully
assist in bearing ; nor has the State, as it was equitably bound to do,
made any provision for relieving the city of this hardship. The cost
of supporting this institution is $60,000 per annum, the municipal
authorities appropriating nearly $6,000 besides, for the support of a
Small Pox Hospital.
The United States Marine Hospital, an extensive edifice erected
some ten years ago, on a commanding eminence in the southeastern
part of the city, receives over one thousand patients in the course of
the year, the average number of inmates being about one hundred.
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652 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
Si Hary^s Hospital, a Catholic institation, has acoommodatioiis for a
large number of patients, as have also the Oerman and French estab-
lishments, situated in the southern part of the town.
In addition to the foregoing, there are many other philanthropic
and charitable institutions located in and around the city, the most
prominent of which are the Asylum for the Dea^ Diunb, and Blind,
now at the Mission Dolores, but soon to be removed to the fine edifice
erected for this unfortunate class by the State, on a handsome ele-
vation near the city of Oakland ; the Magdalen Asylum, on the San
Bruno road, one mile south of the ciiy, opened about three years ago
under the auspices of the Sisters of Mercy, and now containing some
sixiy or seventy inmates ; the Woman's Hospital, founded in the spring
of 1868, by the contributions of benevolent citizens^ for the temporary
use of which a commodious building has been secured in the heart of
the city ; the Alameda Park Asylum, situated on the Encinal, Alameda,
designed for the care and treatment of patients suffering from demen-
tia, and from cerebral and nervous disorders ; and, finally, not to
enumerate many noble charities more quietly managed, the Home for
the Inebriate, organized May, 1859, and which, after occupying tem-
porary quarters for a number of years, has now a substantial brick
building, located in the northern part of the city, purchased at a cost
of $7, SCO. The municipal authorities appropriate $250 monthly tow-
ards the support of this institution.
NUMBER OF INHABITANTS — DIVERSITY OF RACES, IDEAS. AND
CUSTOMS—JUVENILE POPULATION.
The number of inhabitants in San Francisco at the end of March,
1868, was estimated at 133,000, including a large transient population.
Many estimated it at a higher number, but the figures lately given by
^'Langley's City Directory" make it considerably less than the number
first mentioned.
At the beginning of 1848, the city, composed of about one hundred
small buildings, contained a population of 480 souls, which three years
thereafter had been swollen to about 20,000. In 1860 the city con-
tained 66,831 inhabitants, of whom 63,073 were whites, 1,142 colored,
and 2,616 Chinese. At the present time these races are apportioned
as follows: 116,000 whites; 2,500 colored, and 3,600 Chinese, to which
may be added a transient population of ten or twelve thousand, this
element always being large in San Francisco. The number of white
children under fifteen years of age amounts to 34,710, of whom £0,008
are between five and fifteen years old. Seven years aga tiiere were
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. cm AND COUNTY OP SAN FRANGISOO. 663
but 12,116 children in San Francisco under fifteen years of age, 6,890
of whom were native bom.
In nationality the inhabitants are greatly diversified, being made
np of almost every race under Heaven, nearly all the leading countries
of Europe being largely represented. Owing to this intermixture, a
strange medley of manners, customs, and languages, as well as religious
ideas, are noticeable. These different customs prevail in regard to
the observance of the Sabbath, and also as ^o the first day of the year;
the Israelites consecrating the seventh, and^he various Christian sects
the first day of the week, while the Mongolian races fail to pay atten-
tion to any. So, also, these several sects and peoples each have a
new year of their own, which none neglect to observe, this being with
the Chinese an occasion for general rejoicing. On this day it is their
wont to settle up all their affiiirs for the past year, and to discharge as
far as possible all their debts and liabilities, every person desirous of
maintaining a good business standing making great efforts to that end.
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM — PXTBIJO SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, 8EMINA-
BIES, AND PBIVATE INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING.
Of its educational system and institutions, San Francisco may
justly be proud, the whole being designed upon a scale of munificence,
and sustained with a liberality not elsewhere surpassed. In its public
school department there were 120 teachers employed during the fis-
cal year ending June 30th, 1867. The expenditures of the department
during that time were $209,874 76, the total receipts of the same period
having been $320,807 57, all but a mere fraction of which, were dis-
bursed for teachers* salaries, erection of buildings, rents, etc. The
salaries paid teachers range from $600 to $2,500 per year. The prop-
erty belonging to this department, including school houses and the
grounds they occupy, vacant lots, etc., is of great value. Some of the
school houses lately erected are spacious and elegant structures, being
worth, with the lots on which they stand, from $100,000 to $250,000.
Besides the public school establishments, there are over seventy
private educational institutions, a few of which already do, or, it is
designed shall, partake of a public character. The number of students
in these various places of learning aggregate something over four
thousand, many of them being numerously attended, and nearly all in
a flourishing condition. Twelve of the number belong to or are
controlled by the Catholics, this portion containing a total of 3,400
scholars.
The largest and one of the most numerously attended of these insti-
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654 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF GALIFOBNIA. .
tations is the St. Ignatius College, on Market street, an edifice which,
though constituting but one-third the building hereafter to be erected,
has already cost $120,000, independent of the site it occupies. This
college is under the direction of the Jesuits, there being a large nun^-
ber of priests of this order employed as teachers.
S& Mary's College, also a Catholic establishment situated four
mi]es south of the city» is a costly brick edifice, occupying spacious
grounds^ and attended by a large number of students.
Of the institutions not under sectarian control the most noteworthy
is the City College, in which the course of studies, besides the classical
and other higher branches, embraces many of a more utilitarian kind
— ^there being an extensive and well i^pointed chemical laboratory
attached to the school in which the pupils are fitted for practical metal-
lurgists^ assayerS) miners, etc. The University School, Union College,
and several other similar establishments, all occupy a high rank as pre-
paratory schools, several of them being empowered to issue diplomas,
conferring the titles usually bestowed by the higher institutions of
learning.
Among the noted institutions of the city of a more thoroughly utili-
tarian character than any yet mentioned, is the California Business
University, an establishment designed to qualify young men for active
business pursuits of every description, they being trained and practically
exercised in aU the laws of trade and commerce by actual transactions.
This school, under the management of Professor E. P. Heald, a teacher
of long standing in the city, has been eminently successful and popular,
numbering among its patrons many of the foremost men in our com-
mercial and financial circles, by whom it is understood to be held in
high estimation. A large number of young men now holding lucrative
and responsible positions in our leading banking and mercantile
houses, received their early training at this institution.
There are also a number of seminaries and high schools for the
education of females, the curriculum of which embraces studies of a
practical character, the knowledge imparted being of a solid and useful
rathor than of a superficial and showy kind.
Several of the religious sects, as the Israelites and Catholics, have
schools of their own; some of these, belonging to the latter denomina-
tion, containing from five to nine hundred scholars each.
San Francisco is well provided with libraries, the principal of which
consists of the following, viz: The Mercantile Library Association,
25,000 volimies; Odd Fellows, 17,000 volumes; Mechanics' Institute,
11,000 volumes; Young Men's Christian Association, 4^00 volumes;
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CITT AMD COUMTT OF 8AN FBAKCI800. &5&
Verein, 4^000 yolumes ; Wliat Cheer House, 5,000 yolumes ; Society of
Calif omia Pioneers, 3,000 yolumes; Public School, 3,000 yolumes; Ban-
croft's Pacific Librar}', containing oyer 1,000 works relating to the
Pacific Coast of North America; besides which there are libraries of
considerable size belonging to the seyeral literary, scientific and law
associations of the city.
VALUE OF CTTY PROPERTT— MUNICIPAL INCOME, DEBT AND EX-
PENDITURES — BUILDINGS, IMPROVEMENTS, ETC.
The assessed yaluation of property in the city for 1867 amounted to
$96,700,397, of which $63,485,421 consisted of real and $43,214,976 of
l>ersonal property. The reyenue accruing for the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1867, amounted to $1,841,763 96, of which $987,106 77 went
to the State. The municipal debt reaches at the present time the sum
of $4,748,677.
The municipal expenditures for the last fiscal year were as follows:
Churent ezpenses $939,285 05
Permanent improyementB 188,073 75
Interest. 213,363 06
Beduction of debt 354,686 82
Old claims 71,166 66
Total '. $1,766,565 Si
The expenditures on the streets and highways amounted during the
year 1867 to $1,009,883 85. The total amount expended on permanent
improvements in the city was nearly $8,600,000. This relates to every
class of improvements, such as private buildings, school houses,
churches, factories, railroads, docks, wharves, etc. The number of
buildings erected in 1867 was, according to Langley's City Directory,
recently published, 1,060 — 360 being brick The present number of
buildings in the city is, on the same authority, 17,368 — of which 13,611
are constructed of wood.
The principal buildings completed during the year 1867 consist of
tlie Bank of California, the Merchants' Exchange, the Mercantile
Library Buildings, the Mechanic's Institute, the Lick House extension.
Fireman's Fund Lisurance, Hayward's, and the Pacific Lisur^nce Com-
pany's building, all very costly and elegant structures, besides many
large and costly blocks and stores in different parts of the city.
Hony extensive and costly improvements have been made within
the past year or two in the construction of wharves and docks. The
principal of these consists of the Dry Dock at Hunter's Point, com-
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656 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBinA.
menced September, 1866, and to be completed by the end of 1868.
This dock is to be 465 feet long and 125 feet wide, having sufficient depth
to float in vessels drawing 22 feet of water. Though excavated for the
most part out of solid rock, the front is to be covered with heavy blocks
of cut granite. It is to be supplied with powerful engines, pumps and
every appliance for securing the greatest efficiency, and will have cost
when completed over $1,200,000.
The Merchants' Dry Dock Company have lately finished a similar^
but smaller work, at a cost of about 160,000. The apparatus here is
capable of sustaining vessels of 1,000 tons burden. The Union Lum-
ber Association are now constructing a dock of considerable capacity
near Beale street, at a prospective cost of about $150, 000. The improve-
ments made during the past two years by the Pacific Mail Steamship
Company, in filling in' a large area on the northeastern shore of Mission
Bay, rank among the most important of the kind yet efiected in or
around the city; 300,000 cubic yards of earth have been used for
making new ground; the wharves on which the Company's new sheds
and store houses are located, having required 1,200 piles and 3,000,000
feet of sawed lumber in their construction.
P0LIC5E AND FIRE DEPARTMENTa
The police force of the ciiy is composed of one chief, and one hun-
dred men — the latter at an annual salaiy of $1,500 each; and four cap-
tains, with a salary of $1,800 each ; besides which, there are a number
of officers deputized for duty in difierent parts of the city, to look after
privat^e property, the owners of which pay them for their services.
In December, 1866, San Francisco abolished the volunteer, and
adopted the system of a paid Fire Department This organization is
one of the best appointed, as it has always been one of the most effi-
cient anywhere to be found. The working force consists of one hun-
dred and fifty-six members, officers and men included. Belonging to
the department are six steam engines with accompanying apparatus,
two more having recently been ordered from the east, whence all have
been imported. There are 493 hydrants and 50 cisterns in various parts
of the city, the latter capable of holding 1,480,000 gallons of water.
The sum of $112,000 is appropriated annually for the support of the
department, including purchase of engines, etc. A fire alarm telegraph
has also been introduced — ^the construction and fitting up of which
cost $20,000.
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cm AHD ooxTirnr o? ban FRAKOisoa 667
CEMETERIES, PUBMO GABDENS, AND HOMESTEAD ASSOCIATIONS.
—CITY BAILBOADa
The principal cemeteries in the Ticinitj of the city are Lone Monn*
tain and Calvarj, both yerj extensive, the former being beautifullj
adorned and handsomely laid oui There are here many elegant tombs
and monuments^ the site of both these cemeteries being extremely fine,
commanding an extensive view of the city, bay, the surrounding coun-
try and the ocean — ^the latter being but two or three miles distant
There are also six other cemeteries in the neighborhood of the city,
belonging to the Masons, Odd Fellows^ Israelites, etc.
The only public gardens calling for special notice are Woodward's
and the City Ghurdens, in the southern part of the town, and embracing
some eight or ten acres of land each, all handsomely laid out and im-
proved. At these spots a great many birds, animals and natural curios-
ities^ have been collected, which, with the ample means provided for
recreation and amusement, render them favorite places of resori
There are over thirty Homestead Associations owning lands in and
around the city — ^this method of acquiring lots being greatly in favor
here.
There are seven city railroads within the limits of the town, the
whole embracing a linear extent of nearly thirty miles. They are all
operated by horse power, no locomotives being allowed to enter the
' densely populated portions of the city. Besides these local roads, the
San Jos^ railroad enters the city from the south; while connections are
made, by means of steam ferries, with several roads on the east side of
the bay.
The following receipts of the principal city railroads for the month
of February, 1868, fairly exhibit their average earnings throughout
the year: Omnibus, $21,693; North Beach and Mission, $10,575 ; Cen-
tral, $11,820; Front street, Mission and Ocean, $7,086; Market street,
$6,909.
GAS WOBKS AND WATEB WOBBB— MAKKETS.
The San Francisco Gas Company, organized in 1852, is the onlj
one of the kind in San Francisco, furnishing all the gas consumed by
the inhabitants. This company have a capital stock of $6,000>,000,
which has always been sought after, both at home and abroad^ as a
safe and profitable investment.
Almost the entire supply of water for San Francisco is famished
by the Spring Valley Water Works Company, formed in 1865, by a
42
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658 THB XATUBAL WEALTH O? GAUFOBNIA.
consolidation of a company bearing the same name with the San Fran-
cisco Water Company, and having a present capital stock of 16,000,000,
divided into 60,000 shares of $100 each. The sources of supply con-
sist of Pillarcitos and Lobos creeks, having capacity to furnish much
more than the present wants of the city require. This water is of
excellent qualiiy, being taken from pure mountain streams in the Coast
Bange, south of San Francisco. The company's reservoirs are osLpeir
ble of holding enough water to serve the city for many months in
an emergency. The length of pipe laid down within the limits of the
city proper extend a distance of seventy-eight miles.
While there are several large public markets, with a multitude of
smaller ones in different parts of the town, the principal establishment
of this kind is the California and Pine street Market, built in the sum-
mer of 1867, at a cost of $200,000. It is capacious, well arranged,
.and admirably adapted to the purposes for which it was designed,
being open and of easy approach on every aide, and centrally located
with reference to population.
BANKING INSTITUTIONS AND INSURANCE COMPANIES.
At the head of the fiscal institutions on this coast stands the Bank
of California, organized in July, 1864 under the laws of tiiis State^
with a capital of $2,000,000, since increased to $5,000,000, on which
it pays regular monthly dividends of one per ceni, being understood
to have large reserves. Its list of stockholders and officers includes '
many of our leading business men and capitalists, and its broad and
liberal financial policy, leading to a large and rapidly expanding busi-
ness, has already given it a commanding influence both at home and
abroad.
The Pacific Bank, also incorporated under the laws of California,
has been in operation for several years, having meantime disbursed to
stockholders one x>®r cent, monthly dividends on its paid up capital
There are several branches of foreign banks located in San Francisco,
the home institutions they represent having an aggregate capital of
$7,000,000.
Besides these regularly incorporated establishments, there are thir-
teen unincorporated banking houses in the city, having a total capi-
tal of about $5,000,000. The funds held by private capitalists, for
purposes of temporary loans, exceed $10,000,000, while the deposits
in the several Savings Banks reach the sum of $15,000,000, making
a total of about $41,000,000 employed for loan purposes. There are
seven Savings and Loan Institutions in the city, two or three of which
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Om AND C0UKT7 OF fiAN FBAHGISOO. 659
aare doing an immense business, while all are in a prosperons condi-
tion, with a rapidly growing patronage ; the sums deposited in these
places being larger in San Francisco, population considered, than in any
other city in the world.
There are ten home Insurance companies in San Francisco, with
Ui aggr^ate capital of about $6,000,000, and thiriy-fiye agencies or
branches of foreign companies doing business in the city. Their opera-
tions extend to every class of insurance, and their profits, notwithstand-
ing a sharp competition, haye heretofore been large.
UNITED STATES BBANCH MINT.
At this establishment, located in San Francisco, is made two-thirds
of all the coin manufactured in the United States. One hundred men
and three coining presses are kept constantly busy, $242,000,000 hav-
ing been coined here between 1854, the year of its establishment, and
1867, inclusive — an amount nearly equal to one-half the entire coinage
of the Philadelphia Mint since its origin in 1793. The business of this
institution having however, outgrown its narrow accommodations, the
Gk)vemment has purchased a suitable site for a new establishment on
the comer of Mission and Fifth streets. For this central and every
way suitable location the sum of $100,000 was paid, much less than its
actual value at present, and thereon will soon be erected a mint on a
scale to meet the requirements of the Pacific coast for many years to.
oome.
The law allows one-fifth of one per cent, for wastage on the amount
of bullion manipulated. How close this establishment has been able
to work of late years, will appear from the reports of the Superintend-
ent for the years 1865 and 1866 :
The whole amount of gold bullion delivered to the coiner, during
the year 1865, was 2,038,211 ounces, valued at $37,920,213 31 ; the
whole amount returned by him during same period was 2,038,106
ounces, valued at $37,918,257 ; showing a discrepancy of 105 ounces,
equivalent to $1,956.
The above discrepancy of one hundred and five ounces, worth less
than $2,000, is the amount of actual wastage, or the gold lost in mani-
pulating nearly $38,000,000 — only three and a half per cent of the
legal limit
The whole amount of silver bullion delivered to the coiner during
the same period was 563,233.74 ounces^ valued at $655,399 26; the
amount returned by him was 563,223.46 ounces, valued at $655,387 30;
difference, 10.23 ounces^ valued at $11 96.
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660 THE NATDBAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA*
The actual loss in the manipulation of over $600,000 worth of silver
btdlion being 111 96. The legal limit of silver wastage is ''two thous-
andths of the whole amount," which would be $1,310 79. The coiner's
actual loss was, consequently, but nine-tenths of one per cent, of the
l^al limit The statement of the melter and refiner exhibits a corres-
ponding nicetj of manipulation and diminution of loss — ^the more
remarkable as the operations of melting and refining involve a greater
degree of wastage than coinage.
The whole amount of gold bullion delivered to this official, during
the year 1865, was 1,834,524 ounces, valued at $34,130,683. The
amount returned by him, was 1,834,371 ounces, valued at $34,127,849;
showing a difference of 152 ounces ; loss, $2,833 68. The law allows
the melter and refiner a wastage of ''two thousandths of the whole
amount of gold and silver bullion*' received, which would be over
$68,000. The actual loss was but four and one eighth per cent of
that amount — $65,000 less than the limit allowed by law.
The whole amount of silver bullion delivered to him, was 821, 70421
cmnces, valued at $956,164 91; the amount returned, was 826,035.23
ounces, valued at $961,204 62; the results obtained having been even
more favorable than those attending the melting land refining of the
gold. The exhibit for 1866 did not differ essentially in the results
obtained from that of 1865, only the quantity of bullion coined was
some $7,000,000 less.
Of these metals coined at the Branch Mint since its opening in 1854
to the close of 1867, $236,224,666 81 were gold, and $5,861,957 17
silver. The number of pieces coined amounted to 23,057,233, of
which 10,832,651 were double eagles; 335,326 were eagles; 429,308
were half eagles; 62,100 were three dollar pieces; 314502 were quarter
eagles, and 87,502 were dollar pieces.
The San Francisco Branch Mint derives its crude deposits from the
several States and Territories west of the Bocky Mountains. Since 1864
the Denver Mint has absorbed much of the Colorado product — about
one million during three years — and has taken some from Montana^
although not equal to the amount received during the same period by
&e San Francisco institution. The following are the approximate
figures of the bullion received at the Branch Mint, from various locali-
ties, since 1854, up to and including the year 1867 : From California,
$201,411,644 73, besides silver partings, $3,140,259 78; from Colorado
Territory, during 1862-63, (none since), $60,152; from the State of
Nevada, $121,824 37, (the most of the bullion from that State, which
consist of silver, being sent off in bars) ; from Dacotah, $5,760,
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cm AHD couirrT of san FBANCiBoa. 661
(received in 1863); from Washington Territory, 136,132 94; from
Idaho, beginning in 1864^ 19,657,881 81; from Arizona, beginning in
1866, $74,237 67; and from Montana, beginning in 1866, 11,129,131 12.
In 1864, all of the chemicalfl^ acids, alloys, and other supplies nsed
in refining; parting and curing, were shipped from the East Now,
with the exception of delicate machinery — sent from the parent Mint
in Philadelphia^ or imported from Europe, — ^the supplies are drawn
from indigenous sources. A San Francisco manufacturing company
furnishes the acids; borax and the other articles of necessary consump-
tion being also of home production, and furnished at prices lower than
the imported article. The Mint is char^teristically Califomian — is
self-supporting, although its revenue is confined to a coinage of one-
half of one per cent., and the charge for ''parting** gold and silver —
which, in the language of the Mint Law, — ''shall be equal to, but not
exceed the actual cost of the operation, including labor, wastage, use
of machinery and materials," etc. This charge, at the recommendation
of the present Superintendent, R B. Swain, was recently reduced from
fourteen to eleven cents. Among the many other improvements due
to this officer, is the increase of the Bullion Fund, by which depos-
itors are enabled to receive the value of their bullion immediately
after the assay is determined.
The value of Mint charges are as follows: On bullion, under 300
parts gold, 3 cts. per ounce ; finer, 300| to 600 gold, 6 cts. per ounce ;
finer, 600J to 760 gold, 7 cents per ounce ; finer, 760J to 945^ gold, 11
cts. per ounce; finer, 960 and above, no charge.
The present executive officers of this institution are : Superintendent^
Bobert B. Swain; Treasurer, D. W. Cheesman; Melter and Befiner,
J. M. Eckfeldt; Assayer, B. T. Martin; Coiner, William Schmolz.
With the exception of the office of Melter and Befiner, made vacant by
the death of Walter S. Denio, and filled by his assistant, Mr. Eckf eldi^
there have been no changes in these officials since 1863. From the
well known San Francisco merchant who stands at the head of the
establishment, to his subordinates, the officers seem to have enjoyed —
as they have doubtless deserved — the fullest confidence of the Federal
Government and the business community.
ADVANTAGES OF POSITION— FOREIGN COMMERCE AND DOMESTIO
TRADE— BULLION PRODUCTS— PASSENGER ARRIVALS.
Before remarking on the trade and commerce of San Francisco, its
singularly fortunate geographical position will excuse a brief allusion
to its advantages in this respect, all of which become strikingly obvi-
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668 THE NATURAL WEALTH OF CALIFOBNIA.
ous, if we but glance at the map of the north Pacific and the conntries
adjacent to it. The natural advantages of this port, growing out of
its situation and surroundings, point to it as the inevitable entrepot of
the eastern Asiatic, Japanese, Australasian, and north Pacific traffic, as
well as the necessary receptacle of the whole coastwise and inland
trade of tiie western slope of the continent For the greater portion
of the latter, it is already the depot and principal port of supply,
though not yet in railroad connection with more than a few of the
localities consuming largely in the distant interior. It seems to have
been the intention of nature that a truly metropolitan city should grow
up on tiie shores of this magnificent bay. Hence, oentraliiy of posir
tion, good depth of water, generous proportions, and ample protection,
have been duly attended to. Standing half way between the great
bights that cut the continent almost in two, and the Arctic regions
where it finds an end ; at tiie outiet of two great rivers which serve as
communicating channels with and give drainage to an imperial realm;
witii other navigable streams and bays connecting, affording further
facilities for inland traffic; standing on the shores of an outiying ocean,
furnishing highways for easy intercourse with all parts of the world;
with a climate so genial that none ever complain of heat or cold; so
healthful that endemic disease is wholly unknown, and, withal, so ener^
gizing that the human system ret^s its vigor in an unwonted degree;
receiving the ice, furs, and fishing products of tiie frozen north; the
gold, grain, and mineral wealth of the vast countries that back it on
tiie east, and the tropical fruits sent from the south, it seems destined
to become, at no remote period, one of the great marts and manufac-
turing cities of the world.
What must contribute to secure this ^ud in a marked degree, is the
fact tiiat San Francisco can have no rival on this side of the continent,
or, at least, none that it need fear for a long time to come — ii^ indeed,
it will not be impossible for any city on the coast to ever become so
far a competitor as to essentially impair the force of this fact. The
absence of good harbors elsewhere on the coast, and the interposition
of mountain barriers at most points, cutting off communication between
tide water and the interior, to say nothing of other disadvantages,
would be sufficient to prevent any such rivalship ever attaining to
formidable proportions. This natural superiority of Sem Francisco,
already fortified by the construction of a,few short railroads extending
to points in tiie immediate vicinity, will be immeasurably strengthened
by the completion of other and more important roads, one of which.
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cm AHD comnT or ban FEuiNoiBoa 663
the Central Pacific, is now being pushed forward with an energy that
cannot fail to insure its speedy completion.
With tiie concentration here of many local, and ultimately of sev-
eral trans-continental railroads^ with powerful steamers traversing the
ocean in every direction; with the rapid growth of vast and diversified
industries, and the accumulation of values to the amount of several
hundred millions, its commeroial predominance would seem to be
/already secured.
But a few years ago Galifomia was dependent on other countries
for almost its entire supply of manufactured wares, groceries, and all
other staples of subsistence. With the exception oi the precious
metals, v^etables, fruits, and breadstuffs, it produced but few of the
conunon necessaries of life. Its exports, with the exception of bulUoUi
were few and unimportant Ships leaving San Francisco were com-
pelled to depart in ballast, there being no available exports for lading.
Now all this -is changed, California sending abroad a great variety of
commodities, besides its gold and silver, the value of its grain diip-
ments alone having amounted, in 1867, to $13,000,000.* Besides the
product of its flocks, herds, mines, and soil, it has become an exporter
of many other kinds of raw material, and to some extent even of man-
u&ctured wares. The extent of its trade, both foreign and local, and
the rate of its increase may be gathered from the following brief state-
ments, exhibiting the total imports and exports, arrivals and depart-
ures, treasure movements, etc., at San Francisco, its principal maritime
city.
The arrivals in that harbor from all quarters, including domestic
Atlantic, domestic Pacific, and foreign ports, during the year 1867,
numbered 2,677, with a capacity of 909,025 tons, being 520 arrivals,
and 160,752 tons in excess of 1866, showing a large increase on
the figures of any preceding year. Of these arrivals, 141,865 tons
were from domestic Atlantic; 423,272 tons from domestic Pacific, and
334447 from foreign ports, the largest increase being in the tonnage of
home ports ; the augmented receipts of coal, lumber, and other coast-
wise products tending to swell this branch of our commerce. Of for^
eign arrivals, a large share is composed of steam tonnage, consisting of
the regular lines that ply between San Francisco and Panama, San
Juan del Sur, Victoria, and ports on the western coast of Mexico, the
aggregate amounting for the year to 152,400 tons.
The arrivals from our chief points of supply indicating the course
of the import trade were as follows:
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6M
THE KATUBAL STEALTH OF CAIIFOBNU.
Bomestio AUantio Ports 196
Great Britain 49
France 12
Hambnrg 7
Hawaiian Islands 39
China 28
114,685
35,555
5,719
3,199
15,050
37,168
TflMDll. ^POBt.
Kanila 9 6,088
Malaga 2 673
BioJa9eiro 6 2,265
Japan 6 6,628
BataTia 4 1,632
Showing a total of 290 vessels and 255,666 tons. The receipts of mer-
chandise, via the Isthmus of Panama, for the years below indicated
were as follows: 1863, 28,161 tons; 186^ 31,348 tons; 1865, 2^927
tons; 1866, 32,866 tons; 1867, 31,769 tons.
The amounts of money paid on freights of merchandiise arriving at
the port of San Francisco during the three years ending with December,
1867, were as follows :
186S 1866 166T
From Domestic Atlantic PortB $3,266,534 $2,537,390 $2,992,475
From Panama, per steamers 1,886,613 2,250,174 2,144,702
From Principal Foreign Ports 1,228,356 1,327,417 1,402,874
From other Foreign Porta. 392,990 602,541 400,541
Total freights on cargoes $6,774,492 $6,717,522 $6,940,592
Our exports of merchandise and oonunodities, being the product of
Oalifomia during the year 1867, show a considerable increase on those
of any previous year, as appears by the annexed table :
1865
To New York, etc $6,270,412
To Oieat Britain 1,175,658
To Mexico 2,082,704
To South America 541, 538
To Hawaiian Islands 748,142
To China 1,233,272
To British Columbia 1,257,029
To Japan 122,061
To Australia, etc 546,808
To Other Countries 575,322
Totals $14^554^406
1866
1867
$5,744,384
$6,760,378
2,609,262
8,318,642
1,703,201
1,992,862
381,132
770,509
894,891
665,366
1.518,178
1,325,336
1.073,347
978,993
123,702
811,063
2,666,455
62,999
588,466
. 778,756
$17,303,018
$22,465,903
The value of shipments to New York, as above presented, repre-
sents both those by sailing vessels proceeding around Cape Horn, and
by the Panama and Nicaragua steamers. The exports for 1867 were
made up of a considerable variety of articles, of which wheat and flour,
barley and oats constituted the principal items. The table appended
shows the quantity and destination of grain and flour sent away during
that year:
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GUT IBD OOUKTT O? BAN FBANGISCO;
665
To
"Wloum,
Whbat.
loom Iks.
Bablbt.
1001b skM.
Oatc.
1001b iki
New York, etc. . .
Great Britain . . .
China
Japan
Ha^raiian Islands
British Colombia
Meiico
Australia, etc. . . . ,
Bio Janeiro
Other Conntries . .
Totals
248,708
43,947
106,295
3,148
6,867
J,134
4,647
1,650
17,509
84,404
695,630
8,786.607
100.895
554
167
1,829
4
3,534
70,075
18,538
1,929
357
27,448
492
7,353
419
9,636
'*2.i66
519,309
4,659,285
68,232
1,433
3,330
3,122
661
274
1,281
681
10,782
The annexed table exhibits the annual and total export of merchan-
dise and treasure from the port of San Francisco, from 1848 to 1867
inclasive:
Yews.
TrmMwn.
Toua.
1848-50*
$2,000,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
4,189,611
4,270,516
4,369,758
4,770,163
6,633,411
8,632,439
9,888,072
10,565,294
13,877,399
13,371,752
14,554,130
17,281,848
22,421,298
$66,000,000
45,989,000
45,779,000
64,965,000
62,045,633
45,161,731
60,697,434
48,976,692
47,548,026
47,640.462
42,325,916
40,676,758
42,561,761
46,071,920
45,707,201
44,426,172
44,365,668
40,671,797
$68,000,000
46.989.000
1851
1852
47,279,000
66,965,000
64,545,633
1853
1854
1855
49,351,342
64,967,950
1866
1857
63,346,450
1858
62,318,189
1859
63,173,873
1860
60,858,356
1861
60,564,830
1862
63,127,066
1863
69,949,319
1864
58,978,953
1865
68,980,302
1866
61,647,516
1867.
63,093,095
Totals
$142,525,691
$841,610,171
$994,135,862
These exports include shipments to domestic Atlantic ports as well
as to foreign countries. The merchandise exports for the period prior
to 1855 are estimated. The same is true of the treasure exports prior
to 1851. The annual average exports of merchandise since 1848 is
$7,126,286. and of treasure, $43,080,508, or, combined, $50,206,703.
During the six years ending with 1867, the United States Sub-Treas-
urer at San Francisco shipped thence $50,000,000 on Government
account, making an aggregate treasure export of $891,610,170, from
1848 to 1867 inclusive.
^Esttmaled.
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666 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF CAUFOBinaL
The combined exports of treasure and merchandise during 1807, as
compared with 1865 and 1866, were as follows:
1865 1866 186T
Treasure Exports $45,308,228 $44,364,394 $41,676,292
Merchandise Exports 14,355,399 17,303,018 22,465,908
Totals $59,663,627 $61,667,412 $64,142,196
The receipts of treasure of San Francisco from all sources, through
regular public channels during the years 1866 and 1867, were as follows :
1866 186T
Prom California and Neyada. $38,716,340 $40,927,309
From California, SouthemMines 5,149.749 4,477,461
From Coastwise Ports Oregon,* etc 5,940,536 6,192,734
Imports. Foreign, British Colombia, eto 2,887.028 3,969.322
Totals $52,692,653 $55,566,826
To the above sums total should be added about ten per ceni for
bullion arriving in private hands. From the foregoing table it will be
seen that there was a very considerable increase in the bullion receipts
of 1867 over those of the preceding year ; the increase in the receipts
from the northern mines, over $2,000,000, was mainly due to gains
made in the State of Nevada^ the product of which amounted to nearly
$18,000,000 for that year.
The value and destination of treasure shipments from San Francisco,
during the fourteen years ending with 1867, were as follows: To East-
em domestic ports, $428,159,455; to England, $150,548,502; to China,
$55,368,810; to Panama, $7,755,344; to other ports, $9,930,338, making
a total of $651,762,466.
The amount of coin transmitted to the interior by Wells, Fargo k
Company's Express, during the year 1867, was $10,326,639; the amount
brought by them from the interior during the same time was $5,340,-
184 adding $4,886,445 to interior circulation.
From the foregoing, ii appears that the total receipts of uncoined
treasure from the interior during the year 1867 amounted to $46,257,-
320, and of coined to $5,340,184 to which add foreign imports $3,968,-
322, and we have a total of $55,566,826 to represent the receipts at San
Francisco for that year, total exports for the same period having been
$41,676,292.
The army disbursements on this coast during 1867 were, on account
of Quartermaster's department, 5,810,708.65; Paymaster's department^
$2,288,142.85, and for Commissary department, $1,671,421.88, making
a total of $9,770,272.33.
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CTFT Aim COUOTY OF BAN FBANOISCO. 667
The total receipts of Internal Bevenne in the State of Oalifomia
during the year 1867 amounted to $6,747,62487, of which $4,021,28425
were deriyed from manufactures, $1,773,326.46 from incomes, $12,460.-
73 from legacies, and the balance from various other sources.
The passenger arriyals by way of the sea for 1867 were 35,683, and
the departure 20,419, showing a gain of oyer 15,000. The gain in 1866
was less than 5,000. Of the arrivals for the past year, 27,500 came by
the Panama and San Juan steamers, principally from New York The
departures by the same steamers vrexe 14^ 000. The arrivals from Asia
during the year were 4,300, and the departure 4,500. Our gain from
Australia was 1,146^ from British Columbia 857, from the Hawaiian
Islands 289, and from Mexico 162. The net gain to the port from all
sources, by way of the sea, for the ten years ending December 31, 1867,
is 115,866. Fully 75 per ceni of the passengers which have arrived at
this port seawards since 1848 came from the Atlantic States.
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CHAPTER XIII.
MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS,
Bailroads— Central Padflo Bailroad— Western Pacific Bailroad— San Joa6 Bailroad— Sacra-
mento Valley Bailroad— Placerville and Sacramento Valley Bailroad— GaUfomia Cen-
tral Bailroad— Tuba Bailroad— Northern California Bailroad— Various Short Bailioada
—Bailroads Beoently Commenced— Bailroads Projected— Steamship Lines— Ship Build-
ing—Telegraphs— State and County Finances— Gold Product— Fisheries— Immigration
—^Population — Voters — Baoes, etc — Chinese in California — Libraries — Litexatore,
Journalism, etc. — ^List of California Publications.
BAILBOADS.
After a series of years of disastrous delay, daring which, though
numerous enterprises were planned but few were carried beyond the
mere work of projection, the era of active railroad building seems
about being inaugurated in California. During the session of the
Legislature ending March 30th, 1868, a large number of franchises for
laying down railway tracks in different parts of the State, were granted
to the various companies applying for the same, the most of whom, it
is supposed, will at once proceed with the work of their construction.
There are now about three hundred miles of railroad completed and
in operation in the State, a very small extent considering the urgent
necessities as well as unexampled facilities tiiat exist for making these
improvements.
OSMTBAIi PAOmO BAHiBOAI).
This, though not the first entered upon, is the longest, $a it is also
by far the most important piece of railway yet constructed in the State.
The Central Pacific is one of the companies authorized by act of Con-
gress to build a railroad from the Missouri river to the Pacific Ocean,
designed to form a part of the road spanning the entire continent
Starting at Sacramento, it is to be pushed eastward until it meets the
Union Pacific road, advancing from an opposite direction. This junc-
tion, it is supposed, will be a little to the eastward of Salt Lake,
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USCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 669
perhaps in the vicinity of Fort Bridger, 917 miles from its western
terminus.
Ground on this road was first broke in the year 1863. It is now
complete and in nmning order a distance of 105 miles, carrying it
oyer the Sierra Nevada, the most difficult and expensive part of the
route — ^and across which many parties, inimical to this enterprise,
affected to believe it could not be built, or if built that it could not
be successfully operated. The completion of this section in the most
substantial manner, within a period much shorter than that originally
assigned for it, and its successful operation throughout one of the
most inclement winters ever known on the mountains, while it attests
the energy of the company, and demonstrates the entire feasibility of
the route selected, has wholly dissipated these ill founded forebodings.
The heavy and expensive work of carrying their road over the Sierra^
at an altitude of 7,242 feet, and of cutting fifteen immense tunnels an
aggregate distance of nearly one mile and a half through solid granite,
having now been accomplished, this company will find the work of con-
struction hereafter comparatively easy; the greater part of the route lying
across a hard,. dry and level country, almost entirely free from rocks,
trees and other obstructions. With their present working force, over
eight thousand men and one thousand mules and horses, it is calculated
tiiat they will be able during the dry season to grade the road-bed and
lay down track at the rate of about two miles a day until they reach
the valley of Great Salt Lake, six hundred miles east of the base of the
Sierra, where the level country begins. It is believed that upwards
of five hundred miles of the road will be completed by the end of 1868,
and the whole distance to Salt Lake by the fall of 1870.
The business of this road has steadily increased from the time it
was first opened — ^the gross earnings during the year 1867 having reached
as high as $212,000 per month. As it is extended east, commanding
the traffic of Nevada and Idaho, and ultimately of Utah and portions
of Montana, its business must be largely augmented, until such time
as it finally effects a junction with the Union Pacific road, establishing
unbroken communication by rail across the continent, when it must at
once expand into the most magnificent proportions.
Of such moment did the General Government consider the early
completion of a trans-continental railroad, that it was deemed good
policy to extend to the several companies undertaking this great work
a liberal aid in the shape of loans, grants and franchises. To the
Central Pacific Company was granted a money subsidy at the rate of
$48,000 per mile on that portion of their road extending eastwardlj
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670 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF OAIJFOBNIA.
from the western base of the Sierra, and $36,000 on ilie portion west
of that pointy together with a concession of everj alternate section of
public land lying within twtoty miles on each side of their road,
excepting onlj mineral lands and tracts to which preemption and
homestead claims had legally attached. The quality of land tiras
secured to the company is equiyalent to twelve thousand eight hundred
acres for each mile of road, less the exceptions aboye mentioned, the
timber on the reserved mineral lands being also the property of the
company.
The States of California and Nevada have also dealt liberally with
this corporation in granting them moneyed aid or important franchises,
the former guaranteeing payment of interest at the rate of seven per
cent for twenty- years on the company's bonds to the amount of $1,500,-
000 — ^the ciiy and couniy of San Francisco having made a free gift to
them of $400,000, while several other counties through which their
road runs have in like manner aided them by liberal subscriptions to
tiieir capital stock.
The immediate available assets of this company for the prosecution
of tlieir road have, therefore, been, Qt>vemment bonds issued at the
rates above mentioned on such portion of their work as is abeady
finished — $1,500,000 of their bonds on which the State pays interest^
and $400,000 San Francisco bonds already issued to them; their pros-
pective means being, as the work progresses, $48,000 per mile first
mortgage bonds, and United States bonds to an equal amount, making
an aggregate of $96,000 per mile — almost enough, with the company's
tact and prudent management, to defray the cost of grading and lay-
ing down the superstructure of their road. In lieu of these munificent
gifts and subsidies; of which this company have shown themselves not
mideserving, they are bound to transport troops and munitions of war,
carry certain mails, and perform other service for the General Oovem-
ment at stipulated rates.
The following figures and data exhibt the earnings and disburse-
ments of the Central Pacific Company during the three months ending
September 30th, 1867 — ^ninety-four miles of their road having been
operated: Gross earnings, $566,509.30; operating expenses, $101,620.89;
net earnings, $454,888.41.
The ratio of profits, approximating eighiy-two per ceni of the gross
earnings, is nearly three times as large as those realized by the best
leading lines in the United States. The total income of this road for
the month of September, 1867, was $200,550 ; operating expenses,
$33,750 ; income for the following month, $212,000 — expenses having
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MTflORTJJkNBOPS 8UBJE0IB. 671
been jstbont {he same as for September, showing a large increase of
earnings over the earlier part of the year.
This company are now offering a portion of their lands, for which
fliey have patents issued by the Government, for sale on such con-
ditions as entitle them to the attention of immigrants and others in
search of eligible places for settlement Their possessions cover some
6t the finest lands in the State, whether designed for agricultural or
lumbering purposes, their value being greatly enhanced by their prox-
imity to the line of this great thoroughfare, and in many cases also to
some of the best mining districts in the country.
The following are the officers of this Company: Leland Stanford,
President ; C. P. Huntington, Vice President ; Mark Hopkins, Treas-
urer; R H. Miller, Jr., Secretary; S. S. Montague, Chief Engineer;
Charles Crocker, Superintendent; B. B. Crocker, Attorney. Directors:
Leland Stanford, C. P. Huntington, A. P. Stanford, Mark Hopkins,
E. B. Crocker, E. H. Miller, Jr., and Charles Marsh..
WESTKRir PAOmO BAILBOAD.
This company was incorporated in 1862, for building a railroad
from the city of San Jos^, via Stockton to Sacramento, where it is to
connect with the Central Pacific road. The length of this road is 120
miles, twenty of which, leading eastwardly from San Jos^, is already
completed. The iron and rolling stock has all been purchased and
landed at San Francisco; and a controlling interest in the capital stock
having recently passed into more energetic hands, active operations,
for some time delayed, have been resumed upon this work, with every
prospect that it will be carried forward to an early completion, thereby
establishing railroad communication between Sacramento and San
Francisco. The principal officers of this company are the same as of
the Central Pacific.
SAK JOam BOAD.
This railroad, extending between the cities of San Francisco and
San Jose', a distance of fifty miles, was completed in December, 1863,
since which time it has been transacting a large, profitable, and steadily
increasing business.
SAOBAICENTO VAIiIiBT BOAD.
The Sacramento valley railroad, extending from the city of Sacra-
mento to Folsom, twenty and one half miles, was the first work of the
kind completed in the State, having been opened for the transaction
of business January ls4^ 1856. For five or six years its earnings were
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672 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
large, xmtil the construction of the Central Pacific road diverted mosf
of the transmontane trade over that route. Since that time its receipts
have been much diminished, though its local business is still consider-
able— ^more than sufficient to cover cost of repairs and operating.
PLACEBYIIiliB A2n> SAOBAHENTO YAIiLEY BAILBOAD.
This road extends from Folsom, eastwardlj, to Shingle Springs, a
distance of twenty-six miles, the original intention having been to carry
it on to Placerville, nine miles beyond its present eastern terminus.
This company being without rolling stock, their road is operated by.
the Sacramento Valley Company.
OAUFOBNIA CENTBAI< BOAD. '^
This road, designed to extend from Folsom to Marysville, a distance
of forty-six miles, after having been built in 1860 to the town of Lincoln,
twenty-two miles northwest of Folsom, was at that point discontinued.
Its earnings, owing to this abrupt termination, were never large, and
the company meeting with financial embarrassments, their property
has been advertised for sale, to satisfy mortgages resting upon it to
the amount of $2,000,000. This road never having been supplied with
cars or locomotives, the Central Pacific Company have operated it
since its first opening.
TUBA BAHiBOAD.
This road, intended to run from Lincoln to Marysville, a distance
of twenty-four miles, was commenced in 1862, with the expectation
that it would be finished the following year. Its progress, however,
has since been slow, only sixteen miles, leading northwesterly from
Lincoln, having yet been completed. Having recently fallen under a
more energetic management, it now seems likely to be finished without
further unnecessary delay.
NOBTHEBN CAUFOBNIA BOAD.
This railroad extends from Marysville to Oroville, twenty-nine miles.
It has heretofore earned more than sufficient to defray current expenses;
and should this be made a link in the projected Oregon road, it might
yet prove a paying property to the stockholders. As the country about
its northern terminus fills up with settlers, and the mines further back
become more fully developed, its earnings will be likely, in any eveni^
to show a steady, if not a very marked increase hereafter. The con-
struction of the contemplated railroad up Feather river, should it be
completed, would also greatly enhance the value of this property.
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lOBCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 673
TABIOX7S SHORT RAILBOADS.
The San Francisco and Alameda railroad commences on the bay of
San Francisco, at a point opposite the city, and extends to Hayward's,
sixteen and a half miles, the intention being to carry it thirteen miles
further south, to Vallejo's mills, where it is to intersect the Western
Pacific road.
The Suscol and Calistoga Bailroad, now completed with cars run-
ning to St. Helena^ a distance of twenty-two miles, is being actively
pushed towards its termination, with a prospect of being completed
early in the summer of 1868 — its entire length being forty miles.
The San Francisco and Oakland Railroad reaches from the western
terminus of the Oakland Encinal to the town of San Antonio, Alameda
county, a distance of five miles, it being the intention of the company
owning it to prolong it southward till it intersects the San Francisco
and Alameda road.
The Pittsburg Mining Company have a railroad completed, extend-
ing from their coal mine, on Monte Diablo, to their wharf on Suisun
bay, a distance of five and a half miles. It was constructed at a heavy
cost, and over it all the coal from the Pittsburg, Independent, Union,
and Eureka mines^ is transported to tide water.
TLAHjBOADB becbntlt oommbkcbd.
At the head of this category we have the California and Pacific road,
connecting Yallejo and Sacramento, with a branch to Marysville. This
company, after much delay, having surmounted all obstacles, is now pro-
ceeding with the work of grading and laying down track with an energy
and an amplitude of means that leaves its early completion no longer
problematic. A considerable portion of the grading is already done,
and a large amount of the raUs, with a portion of the rolling stock, has
reached Vallejo from the East. This road passes nearly its entire
length through a rich agricultural country, and having received sub-
stantial aid from several of the counties along its route, will be likely
to prove remunerative to its stockholders, as well as highly beneficial
to the region it penetrates. The town of Vallejo will be especially
benefitted by its construction, as it will be likely to make it the store-
house and shipping point for immense quantities of grain and other
farming produce, which will find at this place their most convenient
depot. In fact^ Yallejo promises to become in a short time one of the
important railroad centers of the State, as there is a likelihood of not
less than five or six roads emanating from this town to various points
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674 THE NATURAL WEALTH OP CALIFORNIA.
in the interior. The principal of these roads likely to be soon con-
structed consists of one to Healdsborg, thence to be extended north
through Mendocino and Humboldt counties; one to Martinez, connect-
ing with the Western Pacific and other roads leading to diflferent parts
of Contra Costa county; one to Petaluma^ and perhaps several others
of minor importance projected to adjacent towns and business centers.
BOADS PBOJECTED.
Of the railroads projected, and the constructing of which is likely
soon to be actively entered upon and ultimately completed, being pai*-
tially or wholly located within the limits of the State, the following are
the principal, viz: the Southern Pacific, entering the State from the
southeast, and terminating at San Francisco, with, perhaps, a branch
to San Diego; the several roads already enumerated as likely to radiate
from Vallejo; the San Jose and Gilroy road, thirty miles long, which
will undoubtedly be completed in the fall of 1868; a road from Alviso to
San Jose, a distance of eight miles, easily built and much needed;
from San Pedro to Los Angeles, twenty-five miles, the company organ-
ized, with capital stock of $500,000, and about commencing the work
of grading; and the Stockton and Copperopolis road, the company
also organized and likely to initiate work before long.
In addition to these roads, which are certain to be soon begun,
there are a number of others in contemplation, such as a road from
Gilroy to Watsonville, continued thence to Santa Cruz; from Salinas to
Monterey; from Oroville across the Sierra, by way of the north fork of
Feather river; and, finally, from California to Oregon — an association of
heavy capitalists having, in the early part of 1868, purchased and con-
solidated the several roads extending from Boseville, Placer county,
to Oroville, Tuba county, with a view to continuing the same north
to the dividing line between Oregon and California, and extending
branches into the former State. The entire length of this road, in Cal-
ifornia, will be 313 mUes; capital stock, $15,000,000, in 150,000 shares,
of $100 each; C. Temple Emmet, Thomas Bell, William E. Barron,
Joseph Barron, and Alpheus Bull, are appointed to act as Trustees
until others are duly elected.
STEAMSHIP LINES.
From the port of San Francisco there issue three ocean steamship
routes to foreign countries, there being more than double that number
of important coastwise routes. The Pacific MaO Steamship Company
dispatch steamers regularly four times a month to Panama, and monthly
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TrrSCETTiANEOUS BUBJEOTS. 675
to China. The Califomia^ Oregon, and Mexico Steamship Company
dispatch a vessel monthly to the following ports on the coast of Mexico,
viz: Cape Si Lucas, Mazatlan, Gnaymas, and La Paz; also, tri-monthly
to Portland, Oregon; bi-monthly to Trinidad, Crescent City, and
Umpqua river; monthly to Victoria, Alaska^ and Sandwich Islands;
tri-monthly to Santa Barbara^ San Pedro, and San Diego, and weekly
to Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo. The North American
Steamship Company send a steamer bi-monthly to San Juan del Sur,
Nicaragua, touching at Manzanillo, the steamers of this company some-
times sailing alternately to San Juan and Panama.
According to a recent report made to the Pacific Mail Steamship
Company by the President thereof this company have assets valued
at $28,000,000. They are the owners of a large nimiber of first class
ocean going steamers, it having been their policy to sell off their older
and inferior vessels, and build others of greater speed, strength, and
capacity — twelve of this description, together with two large propellers
and a powerful steam-tug, having been constructed by them during a
little more than six years following May 1st, 1861. The expensive
line to China and Japan, inaugurated January 1st, 1867, is understood
to be yielding the company fair returns, in view of the profitable trade
they are building up for the future. The steamers employed on this
route are of the largest and staunchest kind ever built, being a credit
to our naval architecture and the country they represent.
What promises to be of special benefit to this service, is the prob-
ability that petroleum will soon be substituted for coal as a steam
generating fuel, whereby much of the space now required for that
article can be devoted to the carriage of additional cargo, while the
expense for this item will be materially reduced. Should this substi-
tution be successfully effected, the gains to this company would be
immense, as the great length of the voyage — there being no coaling
station on the route — compels the allotment of nearly half the ship's
carrying capacity for fuel stores alone, thereby diminishing her eam-
bigs in a like ratio, since it is upon the freights that most reliance is
made for profits. Petroleum can probably be supplied in California
as cheaply as in any other country, when there shall be a large home
consumption created for this article, warranting capital embarking
extensively in its manufacture. The crude material, of the best qualiiy
for the purpose above indicated, exists at various points in the State
in the greatest profusion, and imder circumstances rendering the sup-
ply certain and its collection inexpensive. The prospect of our exten-
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676 THE NATDBAL "SVEALTH OP CAMFOBNIA.
sive petroleum deposits being used as a steam producing fuel, imparts
to them a new and peculiar value.
The California Steam Navigation Company own nearly all the ves-
sels running on the routes into the interior. In their service steamers
leave San Francisco daily for Sacramento and Stockton, where they
connect with smaller vessels running to points still further inland.
Small steamers also run daily from San Francisco to Suisun, Benicia,
Martinez, Mare Island, Napa^ Petaluma, San Bafael, Alviso, and other
points about the bay, there being steam ferries that constantly ply
between the metropolis and Oakland, Alameda^ and other towns sit-
uated on the opposite shore of the bay.
SHIP BUILDING.
Notwithstanding the high prices of labor and certain classes of
material there has been a good deal of ship building carried on at San
Francisco, and at various points along the northern coast during the
past six or eight years, the amount of repairing done at the port of San
Francisco having always been large. For the past three years the busi-
ness of constructing new vessels has been slack here as well as in all
other parts of the United States. But it is believed it will soon experi-
ence a revival, the demand for new vessels being considerable on this
coast, while the advantages enjoyed here in the matter of cheap lumber
and certain other requisite material, will be likely to more than off-set
the somewhat higher prices of capital and labor.
From a report lately made by C. T. Hopkins and Joseph Bingot to
the Board of Marine Underwriters of San Francisco, it appears that
there are owned in that city 136 vessels, having a total capacity of
53,312 tons, and of the aggregate market value of $1,679,000. Of this
number, 21 are ships of the average age of 20 years, 76 are barks of the
average age of 15 7-lOth years, and 39 are brigs of the average age of
11 l-5th years.
From the same report it appears that there have been built on this
coast, since 1859, twenty eight vessels, the capacity of which has ranged
from 83 to 298 tons; costing from $9,000 to $25,000 each. The most of
these vessels were built at San Francisco and Coos Bay, one at Oak-
land, and the balance at Novarro river, Umpqua^ and various other
points along the northern coast; the lumber used being chiefly pine,
with a little teak, oak, laurel and cedar. A much greater proportion of
small craft, ranging in burden from ten up to seventy or eighty tons, is
built in California than of larger vessels. The keels for a considerable
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laSCELLANEOUB SUBJECTS. 677
Humber of ferry boats and steamers for navigating the inland waters of
the State are laid every year at San Francisco or other places about the
bay, or along the navigable streams of the interior; all this class of
vessels, with a few ocean going steamers, having been built in the coun-
try. Some idea of the extent of this branch of ship building may be
gained from the fact that the California Steam Navigation Company
have retired over one hundred steamers within the past ten years, being
vessels owned by rival companies which they have bought and tied up,
or hired to lie idle.
No country in the world oflfers anything like the natural advantages
for ship building that are to be found along the northern coast of Cali-
fornia and the southern coast of Oregon, along the Columbia river, and
more especially about Puget Sound, timber of good qualiiy and of the
most desirable size being everywhere abundant and convenient to deep
water. So decided are these advantages, taken in connection with the
superior climate, admitting of labor being prosecuted the year through
without interruption, that the authors of the report alluded to suggest
to the Board of Underwriters, the policy of the shipping and insurance
interest on the coast aiding practical builders in establishing an exten-
sive ship yard at some eligible point, or perhaps several, with a view
to building vessels not only for home service, but for sale in foreign
markets; satisfied that, if embarked in on a large scale and sustained
by ample capital, the enterprise could not fail to prove highly remimer-
ative to parties concerned and extremely beneficial to the public.
TELEGRAPH SYSTEM.
The Telegraph system of this coast was inaugurated by the organ-
ization in September, 1862, of the California State Telegraph Company.
Its lines originally extended from San Francisco to Marysville, there
being then but three other offices opened, viz: at San Jose, Stockton
and Sacramento. Now the Company own over five thousand miles of
wire and nearly two hundred offices, while their lines extend to all the
important points in this State, Washington Territory, British Columbia
and Nevada, and as far east as Great Salt Lake City. It consolidated
in 1860 with the Alta California Telegraph Company, reaching east-
ward to Sonora and Downieville, and in 1861 with the telegraph lines
in Oregon, and with those of the Pacific and Atlantic Telegraph Com-
pany, then completed from San Francisco to Los Angeles. In 1861
the Overland line to the Atlantic was inaugurated, with the aid of sub-
sidies from the Federal and State governments. It was commenced in
April, 1861, and finished on the 25th day of October of that year to
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THE NATURAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNLL
Salt Lake, there connecting with the Western Union Telegraph Com-
pany. In 1862 the Overland Company was consolidated with the State
Company, and in 1867 the entire lines of the latter were leased by the
Western Union Telegraph Company, which, with this addition, is said
to have more than one hundred thousand miles of wire. In fact, the
history of telegraphing on this coast, as everywhere else, is only a
series of unions, showing seemingly a constant tendency in short,
isolated lines, to merge into and disappear before extensive and united
systems.
GOLD PBODUCT OF CATiTFOBNIA.
The following table exhibits the total and annual product of gold in
the State of California, from the time of its discovery to the end of
1867, a period of twenty years. The figures, though not perhaps abso-
lutely correct^ approximate exactness as nearly, no doubt, as any esti-
mates extant:
1848. $10,000,000
1849 40,000,000
1850 50,000,000
1851. : 55,000,000
1852 60,000,000
1853 : 65,000,000
1854 60,000,000
1855 55,000, 000
1856 55,000,000
1857 55,000,000
1858 50,000,000
Canied forward $555,000,000
Brought forward.
$555,000,000
1859
50,000,000
1860
45,000,000
1861
40,000,000
1862
34,700,000
1863
30,000,000
1864,
26,600,000
1865
28,500,000
1866
26,500,000
1867
25,000,000
Total
$861,300,000
STATE AND COUNTY FINANCES.
From the last report of the State Controller, it appears that the total
indebtedness of the State of Califomia amounted, on the 1st Novem-
ber, 1867, to $5,126,600, which has since been reduced to a little less
than $4,700,000. The State revenues for the fiscal year ending June
30th, 1867, amounted to $3,595,232.06, the expenditures for the same
period having been $2,954233.79. The total receipts of the State for
1868 were estimated by this official at $2,39^440, and the expenditures
at $2,246,630.
The following table exhibits the amount of indebtedness, rate of
interest, assessed value of property, rate of taxation, and estimated
population in all the counties in the State, with the few exceptions
apparent therein.
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mSOELIANEOUB SDBJECTS.
679
Oo^nticii.
Cbtmty
Amoiutt
t
Maador . . , ,
Hevwda . . . .
AlAmcclA ..
J
mj^} 00
Yulo , .,..
BlcTrt... .,.*.».,
ColUM ...,,..,„...
Biui FtbucIuco ^ ,
MeiT«l..,..>.* ,.*..
Ciift^xma , , . . , - - . . »
f^Ukiyou. ..,,».
»^*n'^ ,..
SuiU Cruz
£1 Dorado
Napa
Btanialaiu
Sutter
Marin
Contra Costa
Monterey
8an Mateo
Lob Angeles
Banta Clara
Sacramento
Placer
Mendocino
Del Norte
Klamath
Alpine
Butte
Humboldt
Inyo
Kcm
Lake
La»8en
Mariposa
Mono
Plumas
San Bernardino
San Diego
San Joaquin
San LuiB Obispo
Santa Barbara
Solano
Sonoma
Tehama
Tulare
Yuba
170,000 00
oo.isa ifl,
23.033 00,
84,000 00,
fitri,-i^ ot
5a,T«9 Oft
40p371 7»|
50*096 00;
34,000 00 ,..
4,70«,001 00 i -i^lGe.Oel 00
15,000 00 ,» '
35&.a40 00 1 im,ti40 no;
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
ID
a f 10
mMfi 10
30,000 00
362,715 U
175,000 00
28,243 98
5,005 90
20,000 00
187,573 04
149.600 00
41,000 00
20,000 00
177,000 00
466,600 00
702,500 24
253,340 00
63,612 53
12,000 00
22,655 47
10,000 00
277,513 00
20,000 00
3,000 00
Totals
Total Real and Personal .
16,300 00
47,750 00
15,000 00
8,000 00
21,007 00
90,255 14
96,868 00
36,800 00
40,000 00
149,834 00
100.000 00
52,000 00
187,400 00
$9,421,660 27
32,000 00
20,000 00
160,850 00
412,300 00
253,340 00
89,263 64
4,200 00
13,652 19
10,000 00
200,000 00
14,024 00
32,714 45
45,000 00
36,800 00
40.000 00
96,252 00
16,600 00
100,000 00
52,000 00
183,400 00
$7,195,138 42
8 10
to
1ft
10
10
10
7
7 12
6
8
10
10
10
6
10
10
10
7
10
7 8 10
10
7
7 10
10
10
10
10
HJO
1.00
1.07
a.OT
,00
1.05
i.ftrt
M
1.117
2.00
4.00
1.37
1.70
1,157.097
3.610,480
043.<^
aTa,W5
704,901
usages
7iO,100
3fM>,IW7
7*M^mi
46p;trjfj
2.05
1.74
1.37
1.37
1.66
.87
2.37
1.47
1.50
1.12
1.82
1.02
1.87
1,391,213
2,262,134
651,257
368,854
1,529,964
1,671,837
739,068
1,257,942
6,268,703
4,974,329
2.808.769
650,.100
65,260
127,085
t3fT3,40T
a.227,H07
1.650,7015
67S.450
(Wl.«ff7
1,303,617
l^omiM
l^HilT.iia
Al,i:vJ,OLl
1,110. IK'
Ori:UK>fi
1^541 f.^a-'j
l,rn/i.i:iA
l,n/st,17i
l/Nrjj'in
•2^7<Kl,l»jif
l/-^.Hi
2,V-:^,-^-
1, -ill., 01
1,4 Of' /hV J
4 :i
♦450.000
♦6,128,358
♦2.200,000
♦600,000
♦819,825
"^5,708
♦750,000
♦1,237,470
132,580
♦1,192,621
♦695,201
♦585,383
^,275,016
♦758.330
♦771,361
♦3,044,120
♦5,346,686
♦1,598,600
♦1,299,379
♦4,160.600
2.S00
11.000
10,560
1 5,490
14,000
JS.M6
7,080
7,000
3,C00
125.000
l.POO
10,732
6,000
3,000
6,600
16,000
6,000
2,500
6,100
6,000
8,000
6,000
6,148
12,000
30,000
23,000
12,000
6,200
1,600
9.360
6.330
8.350
1,420
4,170
700
3,670
6,260
1,500
17,140
2.850
6,470
15,850
25.280
3,386
4,890
10,420
$221,341,608
493,972
Many of the counties have assets to meet a portion of their indebt-
edness, the aggregate value thereof being estimated at $2,450,000, which,
deducted from the above figures, leaves a balance to represent the actual
indebtedness of the counties of about $7,000,000. If to this be added
the State debt, $4, 700,000, and say $4,000,000 for debts due by cities and
towns in their corporate capacity, and $1,000,000 for debts of counties
omitted in the above table, we have a total indebtedness of nearly
$17,000,000.
♦ Beal and Penoi&al Property.
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680 THE NATX7BAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNLL
FISHERIES.
The fisheries on our northwestern coast, and in the Arctic Ocean,
are becoming a very important interest, having rapidly expanded within
the past few years. The arrivals belonging to the whaling fleet during
the year 1867 amounted to twenty-two, of which thirteen were from the
Arctic Ocean, seven of these vessels belonging to the port of San Fran-
cisco. The product of the catch for the season consisted of 13,149
barrels of oil, and 186,600 pounds bone, showing an average of 600
barrels oil and 8,500 pounds bone to each vessel. There were twenty-
six arrivals in 1866, bringing 15,000 barrels oil and 220,000 pounds
bone; and twenty arrivals in 1865, with 11,320 barrels oil and 114,000
pounds bone. The most of the fleet engaged in these northern waters
were formerly in the habit of repairing to Honolulu for the purpose of
making sale or re-shipment of cargo and obtaining supplies. For sev-
eral years past more of them have made San Francisco their place of
rendezvous, and it is altogether probable that the number repairing
to that port will be annually increased hereafter.
The first adventure from San Francisco, in the cod fisheries of the
north, was made in 1862. Three years later seven vessels were engaged
in the business, the number having been increased to eighteen in 1866.
In 1867, twenty cargoes were received at San Francisco, one vessel
having made two trips during the season. All these vessels but two
were fitted oat at the port last mentioned. The number of fish caught
during the latter year was 943,403, amounting to 1,183 tons, dried fish.
In 1868 there were eighteen arrivals, bringing 724,009 fish, amounting
to 902 tons of the dried article; the arrivals in 1865 having been seven —
number of fish taken, 469,400 — tons dried, 587. The time consumed
in making the round trip by these vessels, in 1867, ranged from ninety-
five to one hundred and nineiy-three days.
IMMIGRATION.
Almost every chapter in this volume may be said to contain some-
thing pertinent to the question of. immigration. In fact, all that has
been written about the soil, climate, agricultural advantages, rate of
wages, manufacturing and mining industries, and almost every other
leading topic treated of in these pages, may be considered as having
a direct bearing on this subject; therefore, we will not pursue it further
in this place than to say the present seems an auspicious season, invit-
ing general emigration to California. Every industrial interest is at
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MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 681
tliis time exceedingly prosperous. Farming in all its branches, of
grain, fruit, grape, wool, and cattle growing, has paid munificently
for several years past, having, to all appearance, an equally prosperous
future before it Lands of good quality, imless sought after in the im-
mediate vicinity of San Francisco, are cheap and procurable on easy
conditions ; the opportunities for making money in the mines are still
excellent, while labor of nearly every kind is in demand at liberal prices,
which the prospective requirements for railroad construction prom-
ises to sustain for a long time to come. The rates of passage by the
several steamship lines are extremely low, the transit being made with
expedition, comfort, and safety. The various overland routes are also
in better condition for travel than ever before, the more central being
settled up for a long stretch at each end, with numerous towns and
stations at intervals along it, enabling the emigrant to obtain supplies
without carrying them as formerly all the way through. There will,
moreover, be but little to fear from Indian molestations on this route
hereafter. To such, then, abroad, as may entertain the idea of an
early change of locality, or who may ever have contemplated a removal
to Califomia, it may be said that the present is every way an opportune
moment for emigration to this State.
POFUIiATION, yOTERS, RACES, ETOl
According to a semi-official enumeration, more recent than any in
this work heretofore alluded to, the population of California, all classes
included, may be set down at about 550,000, of which about 850,000
are males; the preponderance in favor of this sex being much less now
than it was twelve or fifteen years ago. Of the entire number of inhab-
itants, fully one fifth consist of children under eighteen years of age.
The population of the State is composed of the various races in about
the following proportions: white, 478,000; colored, 5,000; Chinese,
60,000; domesticated Indians living in families, about the towns or
on reservations, 4,000; and wild Indians, 3,000.
A just apportionment of the voting population, numbering about
130,000, would give to the several nationalities composing it something
like the following figures: native bom Americans, 85,000 — 55,000 from
the free and 30,000 from the former slave States; Germans, Swedes,
Danes, Russians, etc., 20,000; English, Scotch, and Welsh, 5,000;
Irish, 15,000; French, Italians, Spanish Americans, etc., 5,000.
Of the Chinese population, it is estimated that about thirty-eight
or forty thousand find employment in working such mines as have
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682 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OF OALIFOBNIA.
generallj been abandoned by the whites ; about eight thousand of
their number having also been engaged for the past few years as
common laborers on the Central Pacific railroad. Of the balance,
some are scattered over the country, or, remaining in the cities and
towns, are employed as cooks or in more menial capacities ; a few hun-
dred find service in our woolen mills and similar establishments, while
a considerable percentage carry on laundries on their own account or
engage in trade, gardening, or other pursuits, their customers in these
latter branches being found mostly among their own countrymen. In
some respects they have proved a useful class, inasmuch as certain of our
manufacturing industries could not without their aid have obtained a
foothold thus early ; nor but for this could the Central Pacific railroad,
an enterprise vital to every interest in the State, have been pushed for-
ward with the speed it has been ; not so much, in the latter case, from
their cheapening labor as in their filling a demand that must otherwise
have remained, at least for the time being, unsupplied. But, notwith-
standing the useful purpose they have served in this connection, a strong
feeling of dislike, not to say hostility, is entertained towards this
people, especially on the part of the laboring classes — a feeling which,
it is but just to say, has sprung as much from the natural antagonism
of the races as from any apprehended reduction of wages likely to be
effected by the presence of these Asiatic competitors in the labor mar-
ket What shape this vexed question is likely to take is at this junc-
ture difficult to predict; though, from the fact that both those who
favor, and those who oppose their admission into the State, have some
sound reasons to sustain their views^ it seems destined to be a disturb-
ing element for some time to come.
LIBRABIES, LTTEBATUBE, JOURNALISM, ETC.
There are thirty-one libraries in California, containing each 1,000
volumes or more, and an aggregate number of about 130,000 volumes.
The largest of these institutions, the State Library, contains a little
more than 30,000 volumes. In addition to the above, there are about
forty smaller libraries in the State, belonging to the various towns^
public schools, literary associations, etc., and containing from 300
to 1,000 volumes each, making a further aggregate of about 20,000
volumes. Besides these public libraries there are many reading rooms,
where the leading journals, magazines and other periodical publications
of the day are to be found — a vast amount of reading matter of this
description being imported on every steamer arriving from the East
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XISCELLANEOnS SUBJECTS. 683
There are two hundred and thirty-eight different newspapers and
periodicals published in Califomia, of which twenty-eight are issued
daily; two, tri-weekly; five, semi-weekly; ninety-two, weekly; one, tri-
monthly; one, semi-monthly; eight, monthly, and one, bi-monthly;
besides which, five of the dailies issue steamer editions, and twelve
issue weekly editions. Seven of these newspapers are published in
foreign languages, two being in German, two in French, and one each
in Spanish, Italian and Chinese. There are fifty-three different pub-
lications issued in San Francisco, five in Sacramento, and several other
towns ill the interior have two or more.
From the foregoing it will be seen that California contains a large
number of newspapers in proportion to its population, the tastes and
habits of the people inclining them to indulge in this style of reading
more than any other. The liberal support bestowed upon this class of
publications, and the lively interest evinced by their patrons in public
affairs, have tended to impart to journalism in this State a high char-
acter for enterprise and ability; several of the leading dailies, both in
San Francisco and in two or three of the interior towns, being con-
ducted with a degree of energy, tact and talent that would do no dis-
credit to the ablest journals in the metropolitan cities of the Atlantic
States or Europe. Indeed, it may be justly said that some of these San
Francisco papers are scarcely inferior in this respect to any published
in tliese great centers of wealth and enlightenment.
While many meritorious and popular works have been produced by
California authors^ it can hardly be claimed that anything like a dis-
tinctive literature has yet been eliminated from the product of their
labors, nor have their merits always met with that ready recognition
even at home that is generally so freely accorded everything indigen-
ous to tlie State.
The reason of this is found in the fact that so large a share of read-
ing matter is imported from the East, to a want of permanent homes
among the people, and to an absolute lack of population, and not so
much to the absence of a fair proportion of appreciative readers;
though California, no doubt, contains a large element which prefer the
sensational and overwraught style of modem current literature to that
of a more solid and useful kind. Still, several California writers have
acquired more than a mere local reputation, not only in the walks of
humor, poetry, and fiction, but also in jurisprudence, science, history,
mathematics, etc., some of whose works have been accorded very hon-
orable recognition in the world of letters.
Tlie leading publishing houses in California are those of H. H.
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684 THE NATUBAL WEALTH OP CALIFOBNIA.
Bancroft & Co., and A. Boman & Co. The following bibliographical
table contains a list of the principal books issued from the press of
this State, besides which there have been published great numbers of
pamphlets on various topics, political, religious, economical, educa-
tional, etc., together with more than one hundred maps, all of more
or less local, and some of general interest :
HiBTOBY — History of California; bj Franklin Tnthill. Colonial History of California; by J.
"^ W. Dwinelle. A Youth's History of California; by Lucia Norman.
Law— International Law, and Laws of War; by H. W. Halleck. Digest of California Be-
ports; by H. J. Labatt. Probate Law and Practice in California; by D. P. Belknap.
Civil Practice Act of California; annotated by Charles H. Parker. Mining Laws and
Forms; by H. B. Cpngdon. Bancroft's New Law and Form Book; 3d edition. Forms
and Use of Blanks; by B. W. Hent. Mining Claims and Water Bights ; by Gregory
Yale. General Laws of California; compiled by Theodore H. Hittell.
McoNa — Hand Book of Mining in the Pacific States; by John S. Hittell. Processes of Sil-
ver and Gold Extraction; by Guido Kustel. Sulphnrets; by W. Barstow. Concentra-
tion and Chlorination Procef^ses; by Guido Kustel.
AoBKruLTirBS — Theory and Practice of Bee Culture ; by J. 8. Harbison. California Silk
Grower's Manual, by Louis Prevost. Grape Culture and Wine Making in California;
by T. Hart Hyatt.
EDUCATioNAii — Instructions in Gymnastics; by Arthur and Charles Nahl. Clarke's New
School Geography for Schools in the Pacific States; by Chas. Bussell Clarke. Clarke's
Now Primary Geography. Elements of Composition ; by Augustus Layres. Belles
Lettres; by Augustus Layres. Carrie Carleton's Letter Writer. Manuid of Oral In-
struction; by Laura T. Fowler. Common School Beadings; by John Swett.
PoBTBY — Anselmo; by Geo. B. Parburt. The California Hundred; by J. H. Bogers. Out-
croppings of California Verse. Poems ; by Sarah E. Carmichael. Poetry of the
Pacific; edited by May Wentworth. Poesies; by Pierre Cauwet. Poems; by Chas.
Warren Stoddard. The Lost Galleon, and other Tales; by F. Bret Harte. Poems;
by John B. Bidge.
Fiction— In Bonds; by Laura Preston. The Greek Slave; by lanthe. Leah's Confessions.
Fairy Tales; by May Wentworth.
Bklioious — The California Pilgrim; by Bev. J. A. Benton. Esther: the Hebrew Queen;
by Bev. W. A. Scott, D.D. Samson: the Hebrew Hercules; by Bev. W. A. Scott, D.D.
Synopsis of Jewish History; by Bev. H. A. Henry. Discourses on Genesis; by Bev.
H. A. Henry.
I>EscBiPTivE.— Sonora; from the Spanish of Velasco. California Begister; by Henry G.
Langley. Bancroft's Handbook of the Pacific States, and Begister of Facts; by Wm.
Henry Knight. Descriptive Atlas of the Pacific States; by C. B. Clarke. Besources
of California; by John S. Hittell.
MiscELUkNEons — Geological Survey of Califomia; by J. D. Whitney. Confucius, and the
Chinese Classics; edited by Bev. it. W. Loomis. Financial Economy; by J. A. Ferris.
Chinese and English Phrase Book; by B. Lanctot. Disea«*e3 of the Heart; by David
Wooster, M. D. Bancroft's Map of the Paciflo States; compiled by Wm. Henry Knight.
Bussian and English Phrase Book.
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INDEX.
Aborigines, 20.
Early condition, 21.
Marital relations, 24.
Beligious ideas, 24.
Mechanical skill, 24.
Education, under missionaries, 2G»
Decrease of numbers, 27.
Origin of, 28, 31.
Customs, utensils, ornaments, etc., 30.
Language of, 31.
Traces of Christianity, 30.
Agriculture, 352.
Cereal crops, 353.
Wild oats, 353.
Bice, 335.
Grasses, 356.
Fruits and nuts, 862.
Berries, 365. .
Dried fruits, 366.
Pickles, preserved firuitfl; etc., 366.
Vegetables, potatoes, etc., 368.
Large growths, 368.
Cattle, horses, mulee^ sheep, etcs., 370.
Bees and honey, 372.
Insects, 373.
Wood plahting, 374.
Effects of sirocco, 375.
Implements, 375.
Irrigation, 379.
Under draining, 382.
Famine years, 382.
Farmer's troubles, 388^
Contrasts, 385.
Advantages, 386.
Farm labor, 386.
Alameda County, 145L
Town o^ 152.
Warm Springs, 153.
Alcatraz Island, 79.
Alpine County, 257.
Alvarado, 152.
Juan Bautista, 48.
Alviso, 141.
Amador County, 251, 424.
Valley, 149.
Mine, 253, 424, 578.
Amalgamation — Grass Valley method, 553.
In battery, 555.
Mariposa plan, 556.
American Biver, 41.
Amole, or soap plant, 361.
Anaheim, 107.
Ancient Biver Channels, 231, 428, 429, 542,
585.
Angel Island, 79.
Angel's Camp, 263w
Animals, 434.
Antioch, 16.
App mine, 271.
Areata, 201.
Arguello, Donna Concepdon, 37.
Armagosa Biver, 286.
Ashley, W. H., 42.
Astor, John Jacob, 35, 64.
Astoria, 35, 65.
Asphaltum, 109, 114, 117.
Asylum — ^Dea^ Dumb and Blind, 150.
Insane, 319, 652.
B.
Bald mils, 192, 199.
Banner Mine, 238.
Bag factories, 641.
Bay trees, 516.
Baysr— San Francisco, 77, 80.
Suisun, 72, 154.
Bodega, 74, 86.
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686
INDEX.
Bayfr— Tomales, 74. 86.
Drake's, 74, 86.
Half Moon, 74, 86.
Santa Cruz, 74, 83, 84^ 86.
Monterey, 74, 83, 84.
Carmel, 74, 83, 84.
Estero, 74, 83.
San Lnis Obispo, 74, 82.
Humboldt, 74, 87, 197.
Trinidad, 74, 87.
Crescent City, 74, 87.
Light, 87.
Pelican, 87.
San Diego, 80.
San Pedro, 80.
San Pablo, 154> 156.
Bees, 372.
Begart, Father, 8.
Behriug, YitoB, 34.
Bcnicia, 306.
Berryesa Valley, 176.
Bidwell, John, 60.
Fort, 212.
Farm, 298.
Big Trees, 505.
of Calaveras, 265.
of Tnolnmne, 267.
of Mariposa, 279.
of Tulare, 327.
Billiard tables, manufactory o( 635.
Birds, 448.
Scansores, (Climbers), 449.
Baptores, (Birds of prey), 451.
Inseseores, (Perchers), 456.
Insectivorous, (Perchers), 456.
Granivorous, (Perchers), 464.
Basores, (Scratching), 467.
Grallatores, (Wading), 46a
Natatores, (Swimming), 474.
Blackbirds, 46a
Black Bock Mines, 224.
Bleau, Jean, 10.
Blue gravel, 302, 642.
Claims, 302, 585.
Lead, 542.
Bodega Bay, 86.
Boiler Works, 6ia
Boiling Lake, 2ia
Boots and shoes, manuiiaotoiy of. 630.
Borax lake and springs, 186, 4ia
Botany, 502.
Sequoia, (Big Trees), 505.
Bedwood, 506.
California Pines, 509.
Oaks, 512.
Botany— Cedars, 614,
Firs, 515.
Miscellaneous trees, 5ia
Shrubs and plants, 517.
Grasses, 366, 621.
Floweriess plants, 696.
Flowering plants, 526.
Bovee Mine, 263.
Branciforte, Pueblo of, 47, 126.
Brannan, Samuel, 180.
Braas founderies, 616.
Ilr< w me3 and distilleries, 635.
Brigga' orchard, 301, 366.
Brooklyn, 151.
Brooms and broom com, 635.
Brown's Valley, 302.
Bruf-h Creek Mine. 231.
Burnett, Governor Peter H., 59,
Butron, Manuel, 19.
Butte County, 291.
Buttes, Jackson, 261.
Sutter, 298.
Downieville, 229.
C.
CabriUo, Juan Bodriguez, 6, 23.
California — ^Discoverer of^ 5,
Origin of name, 1.
Boundaries of, 12.
Legends concerning 2.
Supposed to be an island, 2.
Acquisition by United States, 64^
Area of; 71.
Early commerce, 35, 59.
Geography and Topography, 71.
Harbors and Bays, 77.
Mountain system, 71.
Governors of; under Spanish and Mezi-
oan rule, 57.
American Territorial Government 68.
California Steam Navigation Company, 676.
Calaveras County, 260, 422.
Calistoga Springs, 179.
Camptonville, 301.
Canada del Beymundo» 144.
Canals. (See Ditches.)
Candle factories, 628.
Canon de los Osas^ 139.
Carp, 495.
Carp^teria, lia
Carriage manufactures, 634.
Carson Hill, 264, 423.
Carson, Kit, 27.
Castle Peak, 280.
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UIDJO.
687
Castor bean, 299.
Castroville, 130.
Cat Camp, (Frankfort), 264.
Cathedral Peak, 272.
CatUe, 370.
Cave at Grizzly Flat, 251.
Cement, hydraolio, 306.
White, 543.
Anriferoos, 585.
Mill, Cox*8, 540.
Chico, 294.
Chiccory, 360.
Chinese, 31, 681.
Chlorination process, Platfcner's, 558.
Cigar mannfactores, 637.
Cinnabar, 174, 183, 186, 401, 402, 409, 415.
Clavigero, 3.
Clayton, 160.
Clear Lake, 184, 411.
GUmate, 330.
Temperature, 330>37.
Land and sea, 330.
Tables exhibiting meui tempentore,
333, 336.
Extremes of heat and cold, 332.
Of the Colorado Desert, 336.
Prevailing winds, 337-39.
Bains, storms, clond and mist, 839 44.
Tables of rain fall, 340, 341, 343.
Snow and hail, 344.
Thnnder and lightning, 345.
Anrora borealis, 346.
Dew, 347.
Belations of^ to agrionltore and other
industrial pnrsnits, 346-50.
As it affects health, domestio economy,
etc., 350-52.
Contrasted with Atlantic slope, 343.
Clothing, 350.
Clothing, mannfactore of, 636.
Clover, 524.
Coal mines, 154, 158, 899.
Cocomnngo, 104.
Coloma, 248.
Colorado Desert, 95, 336.
Columbia, 8hip and river, 84.
Colusa County, 295.
Town of; 297.
Columbia Biver, discovery of^ 85.
Town of, 269.
Commerce, 59, 663.
Early, 63.
Concentration of ores, 557.
Concentrator, Hendy'p, 557.
Contra Costa County, 154.
Contra Costa Hills, 404.
Coombs, Nathan, 42.
Copper City, 291.
Cordage factory, 618,
Corral Hollow Coal Mines, 154.
Corte Madera Water Company, 146L
Copper City, 291.
Copperopolis, 264.
Cotton manufactures, 605.
Culture of; 357.
Oakland mills, 151, 605.
Counties of California, 92.
Cox's Cement Mill, 540.
Cooper, J. B. B., 39.
CoraUitas, 129.
CoulterviUe, 273.
Crescent City. 207.
Harbor, 87.
Crescent Mine, 227.
Croix, Marquis de, 7.
Crown Lead Mine, 275.
Crystal Springs, 144.
Cutlery, 641.
Dairies, 163, d6a
Products of, 368.
Dana, Mount, 272, 280.
Dana, B. H., 36.
Death Valley, 101, 285.
De Mofras, 62, 67.
Del Norte County, 208.
Deer, 447.
Diamonds, 256.
Ditches— Eureka Lake and Yuba Canal, 339.
South Yuba, 239.
Middle Yuba, 24L
Auburn and Bear Biver, 246.
Eureka, 250.
Pilot Creek, 250.
South Fork, 250.
Amador, 250.
Union, 261.
Big Oak Flat, 271.
Tuolumne County, 27L
Mono, 281.
Excelsior, 302.
Spanish Banch, 228.
Donner Lake, 233.
Dcnner party, sufferings of, 52.
Doors and blinds, manufactory of, 641.
DownieviUe, 230.
Drake's Bay, 85.
Digitized by
Google
688
INDEX.
Drake, Sir Francis, 5.
Draining tunnels, 382.
Dried and canned fruits, 640.
Ducks, 475.
Dutch Flat, 244.
Dutch (or Anthrax) Mine, 271.
E.
Eagle, 451.
Eagle Lake, 222.
Earnings of miners, 565, 687.
Earthenware, 629.
Earthquakes, 648.
Educational system, 307, 653.
Eel Eiver, 87, 190, 197, 198.
El Dorado County, 426, 246.
Elk River, 87.
Emigrants, 51.
Empire Mine, (Grass Valley), 238.
Enriquita Quicksilyer Mine, 141.
Estero Bay, 83.
Eureka, (Nevada County), 210.
(Humboldt County), 210.
Mine, (Grass VaUey), 238, 427.
Exports, merchandise and treasure, 665.
Fairfield, 308.
Farallones, 89.
Finances, State and county, 678*
Fisheries, 680.
Fireworks, 641.
Fishes, 487.
Fitch — ^Family and mountaiii, 168.
Flax, 357.
Flora, 502.
Flouring mills, 006.
Flowers, wild, 233.
Folsom, 312.
Forbes, Alexander, IL
Forbestown, 295.
Fort Miller, 325.
Fos-ils, 267, 406^ 421, 424, 430.
Foundries, 609.
Frankfort, 264.
Franklin Point, 128.
Fremont, John C, 56, 58.
Fremont, Town of, 304.
French Camp, 41.
French Corral, 236, 42a
Fresno County, 322.
City, 325.
Fiisbie, J. B., 55.
Fruitvale, 152.
Furniture, manufactoriee of, 633.
Fura, 638.
Fur Companies— early history of, 34
Bussian American, 34, 65.
Pacific, 35.
Hudson Bay, 62, 63, 638,
Fuse factory, 621.
Gas Springy 201.
Gavilan Mountains, 121.
Gaviota Pas^, 114.
Geography, 71.
Geology, 396.
General outline of topography, 396.
Coast Ranges, 397.
South of Monterey Bay, 412.
Peninsula of San Francisco, 405.
North of San Francisco Bay, 408.
Monte Diablo Range, 398.
Coal beds oi; 399.
Sierra Nevada, 416.
Great Auriferous Belt, 4ia.
Southern portion of the gold field, 418 .
Mariposa County, 419.
Tuolumne County, 420.
El Dorado County, 424.
Calaveras County, 422.
Amador County, 424.
Sierra County, 426.
Nevada County, 426.
Plumas County, 430.
Georgetown, 249.
Geysers, 171, 410.
Little, 173.
Gilroy, John, 26, 38.
Tovmo^ 139.
Springs, 139.
Gold, 530.
Early legends concerning 31.
Discovery of; 57.
Product of; 678.
Blufl; 205, 207.
Beaches, 569L
Run, 245.
Lake, 229.
Bearing Slate and gossan deposits, 583.
Phicer, 531.
Bearing quartz, 531.
Early finding of, 109.
Golden Rule Mine, 271.
Golden Gate, 77, 405.
Goose Lake, 212.
Digitized by
Google
INDEX.
689
Goose, 474.
Croyemmenty American Territorial, 3S.
Governors of California nnder Mexican and
Spanish role, 57.
Gophers, 445.
Grant, Capt. U. 8 , 200.
Grass Valley, 234.
Qoartz mines, 426, 579, 680.
Grasses 356, 525.
Graham, Isaac, 48.
Gravel deposits, 302, 542. 535.
Grixalva, Hernando, 2.
Grizzly Bears, 435.
Grouse, 467.
Gulls, 478.
Eggs, 89.
Guadalupe QuicksilTer Idifi, 691.
Halfznoon Bay, 85.
Halleck, Capt H. W., 66.
Harbors, 77. (See Bays,)
Harpending, or Banker Mine, 686.
Hartnell, W.E. P.,39.
Havilah, 119.
Hawks, 452,
Haywards, (Alameda County), 152.
Hayward, or Amador Mine, 253, 424^ 578.
Heald, Harmon, 16a
Healdsbure, 167.
Heron, 469.
Herring, 49^.
Hieroglyphic3, 30.
Hoffman, Mount, 272.
Honey Lake and Valley; 222.
Hope, 359.
Hoopa Valley,. 204.
Horses 370.
Hospitals, 651.
Humboldt County^, 196w
Bay, 87, 197.
Humboldt, Baron Von, 196.
Hummingbird, 457.
Hydraulic mining; 541.
1.
Immigrants, suffering of 5L
* Hints to, 384.
Imjnigration, inducements to, 680.
Independence Mine, 231.
Indians, 219.
Beservations for, 28.
Insects, 373.
44
Internal Bevenue receipts, 667
Inyo county, 284.
Mountains, 284.
lone Valley, 252.
Iron ores, 588.
Works, 609.
San Saba Mine, 689.
Irrigation, 379.
Islands— Yerba Buena, (Goat), 79, 645.
Alcatraz, 79.
Angel, 79.
Molate, (Bed Bock), 79, 407.
Bird Bock, 79.
Mare, 79, 307.
Deadman's, 81.
Farallone?, 89.
San Miguel, 89.
Santa Bosa, 89.
Santa Cruz, 89.
San Nicolas, 9a
Santa Barbara, 90
Santa Catalina, 90.
San Clemente, 91.
Jackson, 50.
Jewelers, 641.
Jone3, Commodore, 51.
Josephine Mine, 276, 419.
Juzapa Banch, 104.
EeanQr, General Stephen Vf^ 56» 58,
Kearsarge Mine, 287.
Kern County, 117.
Biver, 119.
Kemville, 120.
Keystone Mine, 254.
Klamath County, 2Q4.
Biver, 205.
Knight's Valley, 176.
Landing, 304.
Ferry, 320.
Lake County, 184.
Lakeport, 185.
Lakes— Tulare, 326.
Clear, 184-188, 410.
Klamath, 73.
Pyramid, 73.
Mono, 73, 282.
Digitized by
Google
690
INDEX.
Lakes— Owens, 73, 284.
Tahoe, 73.
Buena Vista, 116.
Kaysa, (Borax Lake) 186, 410.
Goose, 209, 212.
Rhett, 209.
Wright, 209.
£agle, 222.
Honey, 222.
Gold, 229.
Bonner, 233.
Twin Bine, 257.
Laikin, Thomas O., 47.
Lassen's Peak, 216, 417, 431.
Lassen^ Peter, 221.
County, 221.
Lanrel, or Bay Tree, 516.
Lead Works^ 628.
Selby*8 Shot Tower, 628,
Ores, 529.
Ledyard John, 34, 64.
Leese, J. P., 48.
Lexington, 140.
Libraries, public, 654.
Lichens, 526.
Linseed Oil, 626.
Lime and Cementy- 627.
LitUe York, 236.
Little Lake Valley, 193.
Literature, 683.
Livermore Valley, 149.
Lizards, 481.
Long Valley, 222.
Los Angeles County, 103.
River, 104.
Plains 105.
City, 47, 105
Lumber, 87, 617,
M,
Mackerel, 487.
Macondray, F. W., 39.
Mad River and Valley, 198.
Madrona, 517.
Magenta Flume, 241.
Mammalia, 435.
Camivora (flesh eaters), 435.
Insectivora (insect eaters), 441«
Cheiroptera, 442.
Rodentia (gnawers), 442.
Rumenantia (cud chewers), 446.
Cetacea (fish-like mammals). 447.
Manganese, 407.
Manufacturing industries* 596.
Manzanita, 516.
Mare Island, 307.
Mariposa County, 272.
VaUey, 276.
Estate, 275, 419, 677.
Mining Company, 275,. 419, 577.
Marble Works and Quarries, 228, 251, 272,
295, 306, 628.
Marin County, 22, 162.
Marsh, Dr. John, 157.
Marshall, James W., 248.
Martinez, 158.
Maryaville, 300.
Mason, General Richard B*, 57, 58.
Match factories; 625.
Mattole River and Valley, 200.
Matting, 634.
McCartj :: 2l2, J40.
Meadow Lake, 237.
Meat Packing, 639.
Melon, Sugar, 359.
Mendocino County, 189.
City, 195.
Cape, 199.
Merced County, 321.
Metallurgical Works, 641.
Processes, 527.
Methods of washing gold, 535, 543.
Millerton, 325.
Milling machinery and processes, 650.
Mineral productions, 527.
Mineral species, list of, 592.
Mineralogy, 592.
Mines— Coal, 158, 399.
San Saba, (&on), 589.
New Almaden, (Quicksilver), 140, 590.
Redington, (Quicksilver), 591.
New Idria, (Quicksilver), 326, 291.
Crescent, 209.
Brush Creek, 231.
Sierra Buttes, 582.
Keystone, (Amador countyX 254.
Amador, or Hayward, 253, 424, 518.
Eureka, 238, 427.
North Star, 238, 581.
Banner, 238.
Empire, 238.
Bovee, 263.
Plymouth, 255.
App. 271.
Golden Rule, 271.
Dutch, or Anthrax, 271.
Oake3 & Reese, 276.
Mariposa Company's, 275, 419, 577.
Digitized by
Google
INDEX.
691
Mines— QoaU mil, G8a
Kearaarge, 287.
Union (copi)er), 423.
Bine Gravel Company's, 302, 585.
Black Diamond (coal), 158, 399.
Pittsbnrg (coal), 159.
Mines and Mining, 562.
Advice to novices, 570.
Best fields for labor, 571.
Examples of success, 585.
Openings for capital, 586.
In northwe-tem counties, 568.
Bntte, Sierra, and Plomas connties, 582.
At Grass Valley, 579.
Placer, 531.
Kiver bed, 537.
Deep placer, 538.
Tunnel, 539.
Hydraulic, 541.
Quartz or vein, 547, 574.
Implements, 532, 562.
Early difficulties, 662.
Number of locations, 576.
Miners' Fotindry, 613.
Mint, U. S. Branch, 659.
Missions — support of, 14.
Extent and prosperity of, 14.
Trade and wealth of, 15.
Revenues appropriated, 15.
Decline of, 15.
Downfall of, 17.
List of names, location, and when found-
ed, 17.
Mis<non Peak, 153.
Mohave Biver, Sink and Desertr 101.
Mollnsca, (shell fishX 499.
Mokelumne Hill, 26a
Montecita, 112.
Monte Diablo, 156.
Coal mines, 158r 399.
Mono county, 280.
Lake, 282.
Pass, 273.
Monterey County, 120.
Town, 123, 125.
Morgan Mine, 264.
Morago, Capt., 20.
Mormons— arrival at San Frandscq, 54.
Mormon Island, 312.
Mother lode, or "VetaMadre," 253, 274, 423,
575.
Mountains— Height of, 75.
Sierra Nevada, 71, 73, 104, 118, 154, 216,
221, 228, 396, 416.
Mountains— Coast Bange, 71, 73, 94, 104,
118, 154, 190, 192, 216, 396.
Diablo Bange, 75.
Sierra Madre, 103.
Santa Susana, 104, 110, 413.
Santa Inez, 104, 110, 412.
San Bafael, 104.
Soledad, 109.
Santa Lucia, 116-120, 412.
Tehatchaypah, 118.
Gavilan, or Sierra Moreno, 121, 142, 412.
Santa Cruz, 126.
Mayacamas, 184.
Uncle Sam, 184.
San Gabriel, 414.
San Bernardino, 416. ^ ^ '
Mounts — San Bernardino, 7$.
Hamilton, 75, 409.
Bipley, 75.
San Carlos, 75.
Downey, 75.
Diablo, 75, 76, 156, 398.
Pinos, 118.
El Dorado, 118.
St. Helena, 176-183, 409.
YallobaUey, 196.
Pierce, 197-199.
Bailey, 198.
Shasta, 213.
Williamson, 328.
Tyndall, 328.
Whitney, 328.
Kahweah, 328.
Bache, 406.
Tamalpais, 162, 409.
Mud volcanoes, 96.
Mustard seed, 350.
N.
Napa County, 22, 175.
Valley, 176-177.
City, 179.
Soda Springs, 181.
Navy Yard, 307.
New Almaden Quicksilver Mine, 140, 590.
New Idria Quicksilver Mine, 326, 591.
Nevada County, 232, 237, 428.
City, 234.
Nicolaus, 299.
North Star Mine, 238, 581.
Norwegian Skate, 230.
Nutmeg Tree, 516.
New Albion, 11.
Newspapers, 683.
Digitized by
Google
692
New Year's Point, 128.
Oaks 512.
Cokes and Beese Mine, 276.
Oakland, 150.
Oak Enoll, 182.
on Works, 625.
Olema, 162.
Opals, 265.
Orange culture^ 106.
Oriole, 463.
Orleans Bar, 206, 207. 417.
OroviUe, 294.
Owl, 454.
OyBters, 490.
Pacific Bollii^ Mills, Oia
Pacific Congress Springs, 140.
Pacheco, 155.
Pajaro River and Valley, 121,
Palou, Father, 23 25.
Panamint Mountains, 284, 287.
Paso Bobles, 118.
Paso Bobles Springs,. 116.
Pattie, Jas. 0., 45.
Paper Mills, 133, 1G4. 621.
Pass, Livermore, 146, 398.
Ccrral Hollow. 146.
Tejon, 109, 118.
Beckworth*s, 225.
Mono, 273.
Pacheco, 401.
tehatchajpah, 118.
Peannts, 294.
Pebble Beach, 127.
Perch, 487.
Periodicals and Newspapers, 683.
Peronse, La, 11, 62.
Pescadero, 126.
Petalmna, 166.
Petroleum, 109, 117, 161, 201, 207.
Piano'^ and Organs, 634.
Pigeon^, 467.
Pigeon Point, 128.
Pilot Peak, 225.
Pine Mountain, 166.
Pio Pico, 51.
Pioneers, Society of California, 650.
PittBiver, 212.
Pines, 509.
Pine Tree Mine, 275, 419.
INDEX.
Placers, ShaUow, 531, 532.
Deep, 538.
Bapid exploration of, 566.
Various branches o^ 571.
Placer County, 241.
Placerville, 248.
Plant?, 517.
Plover, 470.
Plumas County, 224.
Plumbago, 272.
Point Pinos, 83.
Preston's, 86.
Trinidad, 87.
St. George, 88.
Duma, 104.
San Mateo, 104.
Concepcion, 113.
De Los Beyes, 162.
San Quenlln, 165.
Arenas, 196.
Poison Oak, 517.
Population, 41, 46, 47, 681.
Portala, Oov. Don Gaspar de, 7.
Potatoes, 368.
Potteries, 629.
Powder Works— California, 133, 62a
Pacific, 162, 164, 620.
Presidios, 19.
Princeton Mine, 275, 419, 577.
Pueblos, 20.
Publishing Houses 683.
Publications, li^t of California, 684.
Punta de los Beyes, 6, 162.
Quail, 46a
Quail HlU Mine, 683.
Quartz Mining, 547, 574.
Mills etc., 550.
Quicksilver, 590.
Product^ 590.
Markets for, 591.
New Idria Mine, 326, 591.
New Almaden Mine, 140, 590.
Bedington Mine, 591.
Quincy, 226.
Quivera, 31.
B.
Baikoads— Central Pacific, 668.
Western Pacific, 671.
San Francisco and San Jos^, 143, 671.
Sacramento Valley, 67L
Digitized by
Google
INDEX.
693
Plaoerville and Sacramento, 672.
California Central, 672.
Yuba, 672.
Northern California, 672.
San Fiancisoo and Alameda, 146, 673.
Sn5col and Cali^^toga, 673.
San Francisco and Oakland, 147, 673.
Pittsburg Mining Company, 673.
Southern Pacific, 674.
California and Oregon, 674.
OroTille and Feather River, 674.
Becently commenced, 674.
Projected, 674.
BatUesnakes, 483.
Bawhide Banch Mine, 270.
Bedington Quicksilver Mine^~591.
Beading, P. B., 202.
Bedwood, 506.
City, 143.
BmI Dog, 236, 428.
Bluffs, 290.
Beptilev— Testudinata CTortoisee), 480.
Sauna (Lizards), 481.
Ophidia (Serpents), 483.
Batrachia (Frogs), 485.
Biley, Gen. Bennet, 58.
Bio Vista, 308.
Bivers, 77.
Pajaro, 121.
Carmel, 121.
San Lorenzo, 124.
San Joaquin, 154, 314, 324.
Mokelumne, 251.
Mattole, 197.
Bear, 197, 242.
Eel, 197, 198.
Elk. 197.
Mad, 197-198.
Trinity, 202-203.
Klamath, 205, 208.
Pitt, 210, 212.
Scott's, 210.
American, 242, 425»
Feather, 225, 417.
Kern, 119, 417.
Yuba, 225.
Owen's, 284.
King's, 324.
Los Angeles, 104.
San Gabriel, 104, 109.
Santa Ana, 104.
Santa Inez, 111.
San Jos^, 109.
Cuyama, 111.
Bivers — Salinas, 121.
San Benito, 121.
Boss Fort, 37.
Besenofl^ Count Yon, 37.
Bice Mills, 627.
Culture and consumption of, 355, 627.
Bobin,460.
Bobinson, Alfred, 41.
Bogers, Capt. Woodes, 23-25.
Boiling, Mills, 610.
Bope Walk, 618.
Bosin, Pitch, etc., 642.
Bough and Beady, 239.
Bussian Biver, 190.
B.
Sacramento Cqunty, 309.
City, 310.
Valley, 40, 397.
Saddlery and harness, manufacture of, 631.
Salmon, 494.
Salmon Biver Mountains, 205.
Salinas Valley and Biver, 83, 116, 121.
Salamander, 486.
Salt, manufacture of, 153, 623.
Mills, 623.
Sand storms, 96.
San Andreas, (county seat Calaveras Co., 262.
San Bernardino County, 94.
Valley, 102.
San Benito Biver and Valley, 121, 403.
San Juan Capistrano, 108.
Valley, 122.
San Clemente Island, 91.
San Diego County, 94.
Town, 97.
Harbor, 80.
Mission, 98.
San FrancuHio, City and County, 644.
Situation and topography, 644.
Early settlement, 645.
Subsequent progress, 645.
Street grades, 645.
Public squares, 646.
Names of streets, 646.
Improvement of water front, 647.
Sea wall, 647.
Architecture of city, 648.
Earthquakes 648.
Churches, 649.
Theatres, and places of amusement, 649.
Scientific, social, literary, and eleemosy-
nary institutions, 650.
Digitized by
Google
694
INDEX.
Sna Francisco, City and County — California
Academy of Natural Science, C50.
German Academy of Natural Science,650.
Mercantile Library Association, 650.
Mechanic's In-^titute, 650.
Society of California Pioneers* 650.
Toung Men's Christian Association, 650.
Protestant Orphan Asylum, 651.
City Hospitals, 651.
United States Marine Hospital, 651.
St Mary's Hospital, 652.
Women's Hospital, 652.
Asylum for Deaf, Dumb and BUnd, 652.
Magdalen Asylum, 652.
Alameda Park Asylum, 652.
Home for the Inebriate, 652.
Inhabitants, number of, 652.
Children, nxmiber of, 652.
Diversity of race?, 653.
Observance of the Sabbath, 653.
Educational system, 653.
CoUege of St. Ignatiu<«, 654.
St. Mary's College, 654.
City CoUege, 654.
CaUfomia Business Univer?ityr 654.
City property, value of, 655.
Improvements, value of, 655.
Dry docks, 655.
Pacific Mail Steamship Co.'s whorl (556.
Police department, 656.
Fire department, 656.
Cemeteries, 657.
Public gardens 657.
Home tead Associations, 657.
City railroads, 657.
Gas Work-*, 657.
Water Works, 657.
Banks, 658.
Bonk of California, 658.
Pacific Bank, 658.
Insurance Companies, 659.
Mint» U. S. Branch, 659.
Advantages of position, 662.
Commerce, 663.
Shipments of merchandise and treasure,
665.
Internal revenue receipts, 667.
Arrivals and departure?, 667.
San Francisco de Solano, Mission of^ 168.
San Gavilan Mountains, 121, 14^, 412.
San Gabriel, 108.
San Joaquin County, 314.
VaUey, 40, 397.
San Jos^ City, 186.
San Jos^ Mission, 153.
San Juan (North), 235.
^ (South), 122, 123.
Old Mission, 18.
San Leandro— Town and Creek, 152.
San Lorenzo Valley, 126.
Creek, 85.
San Luis Obispo County^ 114-
Bay, 82.
San L^is £1 Bey, 98.
San Mateo County, 142.
San Miguel Island, 90.
San Pedro Town, 104.
Harbor, 80.
San Quentin, 165.
San Bafael, 17, 164.
Mountain, 104.
Mission of, 17.
San Bamon Valley, 155.
Creek, 155.
San Saba Iron Mining Company^ 589.
Santa Ana River, 104.
Santa Barbara, 110.
Island, 90.
Town, 112.
Channel, 81.
Mission, 18.
Santa Catalina Island, 00.
Santa Clara County, 133.
Town, 138.
Valley, 134.
Old Mission, 18.
Santa Cruz County, 124.
Town, 125.
Harbor, 84
Island, 89.
Buins, 130.
Mountains, 126.
Santa Inez— Town and Valley, 111.
Mountains, 410, 413.
Santa Lucia Mountains, 120.
Santa Marguerita Valley, 115.
Santa Bosa, 167.
Santa Susana Mountains, 104, 110, 413.
Saw miUs, 191, 199, 617.
Saw factory, 615.
Scott's Valley, 210.
Sea Lion, 439.
Seaton Mine, 255.
Serra, Junipero, Father, 8, 23,
Settlers— Early, 33, 35.
American, 35.
Bussian, 37, 86.
Sheep, 371.
Shrubs, 517.
Sharks, 498.
Digitized by
Google
IKDEX.
695
Shasta Connty, 21G.
Mount, 213, 431.
Town, 218.
Sherman, Lieut. Wm. T., 56.
Ship Building, 611.
Shot Tower, 628.
Sierra County, 228, 429.
Madre Mountains, 103.
Nevada Mountains 71, 73, 104, 118, 154,
216, 221, 228, 396, 416.
Buttes, 229.
Buttes Mine, 582.
Silk Culture, 392.
Cocoons, 394.
Disease of Worms, 395.
Silver. 588.
Mountain, 258.
Sirocco, 375.
Sigler VaUey, 186.
Siskiyou County, 209.
Sloat, Commodore J. D., 58.
Sloughs, 310, 314.
Sluice Box, 533.
TaU, 572.
Smart sviUe, 302.
Smith, Jcdediah S., 42.
Snipe, 471.
Snow and Land Slides, 243.
Soledad Mountains and Pass, 109.
Solfatara, 214.
Spence, David, 46.
Spring Valley Water Company, 144,
Soap Plant, 520.
Stone, 272.
Factory, 623.
Solano County, 22, 305.
Sonoma County, 22, 165.
City, 1G8.
Sonora, 269. ^
Sparrow, 4G6.
Spanish dominion, overthrow of^ 15.
Sparks, J. J., 41.
Sprague, Thomas, 44.
Squirrel, 443.
State Prison, 163.
St. Francis, Ordei* of, 13.
Stanislaus County, 319.
State Mining and Agricultural College, 151.
Stockton, 318.
Steamship lines, 674.
Pacific Mail Line, 675.
California, Oregon and Mexico, 676.
North American, 676.
Steamboat Springs, 218.
Steam Plou^^, 376.
Steams, Abel, 41.
Stevenson, J. D. Arrival with Cal. Vols., 54.
St. Helena, Mt., 176, 183, 409.
Stockton, 317.
Commodore Bobert F., 53.
Stoneware, 627.
Sturgis, Capt. Wm., 35.
Sturgeon, 497.
Suisun City, 308.
Sunol, Antonio M., 39.
Sulphur Peak, 166.
Deposits, 186, 297> 411.
Surprise Valley, 211.
Susanville, 223.
Sutter, John A., 48, 298.
County, 298.
Sugar refineries, 608.
Beet, 3r,7.
Table Mountains, 229, 267, 421.
Tailings, 573.
Tamalpais Mountain, 162, 409.
Tanneries, 131, 618.
Tea pUint, 361.
Tehama County, 289,
Tejon Valley, 109,
Pass, 109.
Fort, 117.
Tehatchaypah Pass and Moostains^ 118.
Telegraph system, 677.
City, 265.
Temecula, 98.
Tamalpais Peak, 162.
Temple, John, 41.
Temescal Tin Mines, 103, 414.
Tides, 80.
Timbuctoo, 301, 302, 574.
Tobacco, 360, 302.
Tomales— Town of, 16a
Bay, 85.
Topography, 71, 92.
Treasure, exports of^ 665.
Trinidad— Town and Harbor, 87, 20T.
Trinity River, 208.
County, 202.
Trout, 494.
Tuolumne County, 267.
Tulare County, 326.
Lake, 323, 326.
Valley, 40.
Tule lands, 310, 314, 327, 329.
Tunnel mining, 539.
Turpentine and Bosin, 294, 642.
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INDEX.
XuBcan (Lick) SpringB, 291.
ryndall. Mount, 328.
lype Foundry, 637.
U.
UMah City, 195.
Uncle Sam Mountain, 184.
Union Copper Mine, 423.
Foundry, 612.
Vacaville, 308.
Vailejo, Gen. Mariana Guadalupe, 40.
Town of, 79, 307.
Valleys— Sacramento, 72, 416.
San Joaquin, 72, 75, 116.
Sonoma, 75, 105, 170.
Napa, 75, 177, 178.
Petaluma, 75, 165.
Berreyesa, 75, 176.
Suisun, 75.
Vaca, 75.
Clear Lake, 75.
Amador, 75, 146, 149.
San Ramon, 65, 155.
Santa Clara, 75.
Pajaro, 75, 122.
Salinas, 116, 121.
San Bernardino, 102.
Holoombe, 103.
Santa Inez, 111.
San Luis Obi-po, 116.
Santa Marguerita» 115i.
San Lorenzo, 126.
Clara, 134.
Livermore, 146, 149.
Castro, 146.
Morago, 146.
Monte Diablo, 155.
^ Pacheco, 155.
Santa Kosa, 165, 167.
Busnan River, 165.
Surprise, 210, 211.
Bigler, 196.
Big, 185.
Little Lake, 193.
Mad River, 198.
Eel River, 198.
Mattole, 200.
Sha.ia, 210, 215.
Scott, 210, 215.
Indian, 225.
Mohawk, 225.
Gene'tee, 225.
Valleys— Round, 225.
Sierra, 225, 23a
lone, 252.
Owens,* 284.
Tosemite, 276, 432.
Venegas, 4.
Vignes, Jean Luis, 46.
Visalia, 32a
Viniculture, 387.
Viscayno, Sebastian, 6, 23.
Volcano, 252, 424.
Von Resenof^ County 37*
Vulture, 455.
W.
Walker*s Valley, 118.
WatsonviDe, 129.
Wagons and carriages, manufacture of, 631.
Warner, J. J., 42.
Weaverville, 203.
West Point, 262.
Whales, 447.
White cement* 543.
Sulphur Spring?, 181.
Whitney, Mount, 328, 432.
Wilkes, Commodore, 67.
Williamson, Mount, 32a
Wilmington, 106.
Wine making; 391.
Wine merchants of San Frandaoo, 89*^
Wild oats, 521.
Wire rope works, 617,
Woodland, 303.
Woodpeckers, 449.
Wood and willow ware, 636.
Woolen mills, 602.
Wyandotte, 295.
Y.
Terba Buena, 524.
Island, 645, 407.
Yolo County, 303.
Yosemite Valley, 276, 432.
You Bet, 236.
Yount, George C, 42
Yuba County, 299.
Yucca Palm, 100.
Yuma, Fort, 99.
Z.
Zoology, 437.
Zunniga, Gaspar de, 6.
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